Bretton Woods system
Dollar-gold exchange standard
The Bretton Woods system was the international monetary framework established in 1944 at a conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.
It pegged participating currencies to the U.S. dollar, which was itself convertible to gold at $35 per ounce.
The system created the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and governed global finance until the U.S. abandoned the gold standard in 1971.
References to Bretton Woods often invoke nostalgia for currency stability or debates about international economic cooperation.
Unchanging interest percentages
- peggedFastened or classified
- dollarBasic U.S. currency unit
- parityState of being equal
- foreign exchangeTrading between national currencies
Global economic assistance organization
- World BankGlobal development finance institution
- GATTTariff-reducing treaty acronym
- central bankingState management of currency
- international cooperationCountries jointly addressing challenges
reconstruction · development · loans · funding · aid · grants · infrastructure · governance
Resources held back
- bullionPrecious metal in bulk
- Fort KnoxArmy base with gold depository
- specieMoney in metal form
- devaluationLowering of currency worth
Rebuilding after armed conflict
- financial stabilitySound economic standing
- price stabilityConsistent general price levels
- full employmentAll willing workers employed
- Keynesian economicsSpending-driven macroeconomic theory
fixed rates
Unchanging interest percentages
foreign exchange · devaluation · revaluation · balance of payments · par value
IMF
Global economic assistance organization
- World BankGlobal development finance institution
- GATTTariff-reducing treaty acronym
- central bankingState management of currency
international cooperation · reconstruction · development · loans · funding · aid · grants · infrastructure · governance · Marshall Plan
reserves
Resources held back
postwar recovery
Rebuilding after armed conflict
- financial stabilitySound economic standing
- price stabilityConsistent general price levels
- full employmentAll willing workers employed
Bretton Woods systemcurrency wars
Competitive national devaluation strategies
system, systems, systematic, systemic, systematize, Woods, systematized, systemization, systematizing