Preview

The Bretton Woods System: The Caribbean Political Economy

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2940 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Bretton Woods System: The Caribbean Political Economy
BARBADOS COMMUNITY COLLEGE
DIVISION OF COMMERCE
ASSOCIATE DEGREE IN ARTS
DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS STUDIES
SEMESTER 2: JANUARY-MAY 2012
GOVT 202: CARIBBEAN POLITICAL ECONOMY

“The Bretton wood institutions have failed to keep the global economy stable and consequential efforts to stabalise and structurally adjust over the years have resulted in the deleterious effects particularly in the Caribbean business environment.” Critically discuss this above statement while suggesting a new role for these institutions towards promoting a more stable Caribbean business environment.

Name: reco holder
ID#:19930228-0038-2011
Tutor: Natalie Walthrust-Jones
Date: 19th MARCH 2013

The Bretton Woods system is a landmark system for monetary and exchange rate management established in 1944. The Bretton Woods Agreement was developed at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, from July 1 to July 22, 1944. Even as World War II raged on, 730 delegates from the 44 Allied nations attended the conference.
Then in 1994, delegates from forty four countries assembled at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to negotiate a “new world order” governing exchange rates, foreign lending, and international trade. Among their most notable achievement was the Bretton Woods system of attached but pegged exchange rates and a new institution, the International Monetary Fund, to oversee the operation of exchange rates. The Bretton Woods system appeared as a golden age of exchange rate stability and rapid economic growth. The exchange rate of the major industrial countries remained fixed for extended periods. Inflation was moderate by subsequent standards, world trade expanded buoyantly and national income rose more rapidly than any comparable period before or since (Bordo, Eichengreen, 1993).
Major outcomes of the Bretton Woods conference included the formation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank



Bibliography: 1. Bordo, M.D, Eichengreen, B, (1993) A retrospective on the Bretton Woods System; The University of Chicago Press 2. Bordo, M.D, (1981) The Classical Gold Standard; The University of Chicago press 3. Bordo, M.D, Schwartz, A.J, (1989) Transformation of Real and Monetary Distribution Under Fixed and Floating Rates; The University of Chicago Press 4. Cagan, P, (1984) Deficits and the Wealth Effect on Consumption 5. Kirsher, O, (1996) The Bretton Wood Gatt System; M. E. Shape Inc. 6. McGregor, D, Barker, D, Evans, S.L, (1998) Resource Stability and Caribbean Development; University of West Indies 7. Rockoff, H, (1984) In A Retrospective on the Classical Gold Standard; University Chicago Press 8. Schadler, S, (1995) IMF Conditionality: Experience Under Stand-By and Extended Arrangements

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Obringer, L. A. (n.d.). How the euro works. Retrieved October 2, 2006, from Web site…

    • 1454 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Frosty War (WWII)

    • 1614 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In 1944, the Western Partners met at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire (Bretton Woods Meeting) and set up the Worldwide Money related Reserve (IMF) to empower world exchange by directing cash trade rates. They additionally established the Global Bank for Recreation and Advancement (World Bank) to advance financial development in immature ranges. Not at all like after WWI, the Assembled States led the pack in making the essential universal bodies and provided the majority of their financing after WWII. The Soviets declined to take an interest.…

    • 1614 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    To cope with universally floating exchange rates, the IMF developed special drawing rights (SDRs), one of its more useful inventions. Because both gold and the U.S. dollar have lost their utility as the basic medium of financial exchange, most monetary statistics relate to SDRs rather than dollars. The SDR is in effect “paper gold” and represents an average base of value derived from the value of a group of major currencies. Rather than being denominated in the currency of any…

    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    * Bretton wood established the IMF or World bank. The IMF addressed Currency stabilization after WW2.…

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Tobin, James. “A Proposal for International Monetary Reform.” Eastern Economic Journal 4, 3-4 (1978): 153-159 (Tobin, 1978).…

    • 3723 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1944, much reform was being made to the way the western part of the world conducted their trade practices. The western capitalist countries created a new international monetary system in which supply and demand determined prices. This prevented producers from manufacturing more of a certain product if the consumer world didn’t have a significant need for it. They also created a system of exchange rates, an International Monetary Fund, and a World Bank. This proved to be a very effective financial system. It created the foundation of our monetary…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Big Mac Index

    • 3199 Words
    • 13 Pages

    In 1972, just before the collapse of the Bretton–Woods system of fixed exchange rates, the US dollar cost about 40 British pence. By 1985, the dollar had appreciated to 90 pence, but by the end of December 2008, it had fallen back to 67 pence. As such substantial changes in currency values over the longer term are commonplace in a world of floating exchange rates, the understanding of the valuation of currencies is a significant intellectual challenge and of great importance for economic policy, the smooth functioning of financial markets, and the financial management of many international companies.…

    • 3199 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ransom describes “John Whiteside’s” daughter as an energetic child. She is portrayed as a young child with a vivid imagination. Her image expresses the theme of “childlike imagination” in lines three and four by saying, “It is no wonder her brown study/ Astonishes us all.” By using this wording, Ransom invites the reader to look at the world through the eyes of a young girl. Ransom continues to explain the adventure of the daughter in lines ten and eleven by giving the image of geese floating and drifting on a still pond. He alludes to the geese as being “like a snow cloud”.…

    • 234 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Brazil Currency Devaluation

    • 5164 Words
    • 21 Pages

    Hill: International Business Competing in the Global Marketplace, Fourth Edition, " The International Monetary System", 2002, The McGraw-Hill Companies, pp 340- 342…

    • 5164 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Gold Standard

    • 2587 Words
    • 11 Pages

    The relevance and importance of Gold in the World Monetary System, by Peter Millar, May 2006…

    • 2587 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Life and Debt

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Harper, Jack. "Jamaica: Economy | Global Exchange." Jamaica: Economy | Global Exchange. N.p., May 2003. Web. 17 Nov. 2012. <http://www.globalexchange.org/country/jamaica/economy>.…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I took a group of four children to do a painting activity with me at the table. I then went on to ask each child what they would like to paint. All the children suggested they wanted to paint a castle, apart from child C who wanted to paint a picture of his family. I then asked each child what colour paper they would like to paint on and they all shouted “Blue” at me. I asked each child to pick the sizes of the paint brush they would like to paint with, as I went around all the children took a large paint brush and left me with four small brushes. Child C was very upset because there were no more large paint brushes and he does not like to use a small paint brush, as he finds it easier to paint with the larger brushes only, when he is painting…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    What Do I Stand to Benefit?

    • 5436 Words
    • 22 Pages

    References: ^ Mishkin, Frederic S. (2007). The Economics of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets (Alternate Edition). Boston: Addison Wesley. p. 8. ISBN 0-321-42177-9.…

    • 5436 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Country A imports more than it exports which in turn leads to net outflow of gold reducing money suppply and prices. Country B, on the other hand, exports more than it imports leading to net inflow of gold increasing its money supply and prices. As a result, Country A’s products become cheaper leading to an increase in exports reducing balance of payments deficit. On the contrary, Country B’s products become more expensive leading to decrease in exports and balance of payments surplus. This process helps achieve balance of payments disequlibrium.…

    • 1238 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Report

    • 25414 Words
    • 102 Pages

    http://sta.uwi.edu/iir/ Matthew Louis Bishop Norman Girvan Timothy M. Shaw Solange Mike Raymond Mark Kirton Michelle Scobie Debbie Mohammed Marlon Anatol…

    • 25414 Words
    • 102 Pages
    Powerful Essays