Money Matters: An IMF Exhibit -- The Importance of Global Cooperation

Conflict and Cooperation (1871-1944)

Part 6 of 6

Conflict &
Cooperation
(1871 - 1944)

Destruction &
Reconstruction

(1945 - 1958)
The System
in Crisis

(1959 - 1971)
Reinventing
the System

(1972 - 1981)
Debt &
Transition

(1981 - 1989)
Globalization and Integration
(1989 - 1999)
 
 

How Could Leaders Ensure a Future of Global Peace and Prosperity?

<--Previous Destruction and Reconstruction
 

New Economic World Order

The Bretton Woods meeting was a smashing success. After much delicate negotiation and hard work, the delegates agreed on the fundamental principles of a new monetary system to encourage economic stability and prosperity. Two intergovernmental institutions were created to further these principles:
  • The International Monetary Fund
  • The World Bank
Soon after, delegates meeting at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., set up the United Nations, the political counterpart to the Bretton Woods institutions.

International Monetary Fund and World Bank

World Bank logo
credits
Bretton Woods: July 1-22, 1944

The Bretton Woods meeting resulted in the founding of the IMF and the World Bank, twin intergovernmental pillars supporting the structure of the world's economic and financial order. The World Bank finances economic development, while the IMF oversees the international monetary system.

 

 

The IMF

IMF logo The founders felt that a fundamental condition for international prosperity was an orderly monetary system that would encourage trade, create jobs, expand economic activity, and raise living standards throughout the world. The IMF was charged with:
  • Helping each country set a fixed, but changeable, exchange rate for its currency based on gold
  • Assisting members that have temporary balance of payments difficulties by providing short- to medium-term credit
  • Overseeing the international monetary system


 

United Nations

Dumbarton Oaks: August 27-October 7, 1944
United Nations logo

credits

 

The Dumbarton Oaks meeting resulted in proposals to create the United Nations, an intergovernmental forum for solving international problems and disputes. The proposals were adopted at the subsequent meeting in San Francisco in 1945.

"All of us here have the greatest sense of elation. All in all, quite extraordinary harmony has prevailed. As an experiment in international cooperation, the conference has been an outstanding success."

John Maynard Keynes
1944
 
The Golden Era Meltdown Cost of the World War
     
Global Depression The End of the War is in Sight How Could Leaders Ensure a Future of Global Peace and Prosperity?

<--Previous Destruction and Reconstruction