Bretton Woods Systems

• The Bretton Woods System was established in 1944 during the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference to prevent disasters from repeating and harming relations between nations
• John Maynard Keynes, a British economist, believed that economic crises occur when money is not spent and moving, influencing the Bretton Woods system
• Two financial institutions were established by the Bretton Woods delegates:

  • The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IRD, or World Bank) provided finance for postwar rebuilding initiatives
  • The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was created to prevent individual nations from experiencing credit crises and act as the global lender of last resort
• Shortly after Bretton Woods, countries committed to further global economic integration through the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947