Convinced that economic hardship had led to the rise of fascism, the Allies called the Bretton Woods conference in an attempt to address the causes of the Great Depression. The primary focus, economists say, was to come up with a currency system less rigid than the gold standard while providing similar stability. As part of the effort, the conference laid the foundations for the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
The resulting system remained in place until 1971, when the Nixon administration removed the dollar's peg to gold and allowed the greenback to float -- effectively putting an end to the fixed-rate system.
Some economists find references to Bretton Woods curious.
"Bretton Woods was about exchange-rate management and setting up facilities for country-to-country lending under duress, and that actually hasn't worked bad in this crisis," said Roger Kubarych, chief U.S. economist at UniCredit MIB and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
"It's mainly a banking crisis. It's not a currency crisis," Goldstein agreed.
The resulting system remained in place until 1971, when the Nixon administration removed the dollar's peg to gold and allowed the greenback to float -- effectively putting an end to the fixed-rate system.
Some economists find references to Bretton Woods curious.
"Bretton Woods was about exchange-rate management and setting up facilities for country-to-country lending under duress, and that actually hasn't worked bad in this crisis," said Roger Kubarych, chief U.S. economist at UniCredit MIB and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
"It's mainly a banking crisis. It's not a currency crisis," Goldstein agreed.
