Global Organizations -- IMF At the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, that created the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, the Western capitalist nations sought to avoid a repetition of the events that led to the Great Depression and Second World War by establishing a stable international economic order that was not bound by the rigidity of the pre-1914 gold standard system. The interwar period of 1919-39 was one of economic

Future of the Dollar dollar ("dollar") is the world's reserve currency of choice, but at various points in its history, critics have pointed to other currencies as potential vehicle currencies of choice. While in the 1970s or 80s it might have been the yen or the deutschmark, the creation of the euro in 1999 brought a new competitor onto the scene. In its first few years, the euro became increasingly popular. With

macroeconomics, the U.S. Dollar appears to be the currency holding the greatest global power. Indeed, it is the dominant reserve currency (Liu), now comprising 68% of global reserves, while just a decade ago the dollar accounted for 51% of global currency reserves. Because it is so globally prominent, even minor changes in the economy influences the power and performance of the dollar. It appears that recent market influences and

Socialist states use a command and control management structure as a substitute for the profit motive. This structure is less efficient, so production levels cannot match those of capitalist states. Ultimately, the lack of productivity and the large number of distortions lead to economic collapse (Tesche, 1993). Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the pace and nature of economic reforms has differed greatly in the former Soviet states. These

The stability is evident in the statistics as well. Between 1880 and 1914, the golden age of the gold standard, inflation averaged 0.1%. Between 1946-2003, even with Bretton Woods, inflation average 4.1% (Bardo, n.d.). Short-term price changes, however, could be highly unstable. This is a consequence of the fact that the gold standard ignores fundamental economic principles. Any system where the value of a good is established by artificial

Ascent of Money As we will see in this short essay, The Bank of Amsterdam, the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve are linked in the history of money and banking. We will investigate the roles that each of these institutions played in providing a critical institutional foundation for the expansion of the world trading system. We will explore the Bank of England's role in providing a guiding influence in