The Bretton Woods system is based on the following provisions. Bretton Woods monetary system and its essence

Definition of the term Bretton Woods International monetary system

History of the creation of Bretton Woods international monetary system

Evolution monetary system

Impact of World War II

Bretton Woods World Monetary System - a system of foreign exchange regulation, which was created on the basis of contract, signed by representatives of 44 countries at the UN monetary and financial conference, held in 1944. in Bretgon Woods (USA). Decisions were made to establish the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which entered it as the main institutions.

The introduced rules of currency regulation were aimed at stabilizing exchange rates and liberalizing world trade. They assumed fixation exchange rates by linking them with gold and the American dollar, which were given the functions of international foreign exchange reserves (gold-currency standard). Only a minimal (deviation) of the rates of national currencies from their dollar parity or gold content was allowed. The statute established the official gold: 35 US dollars per troy ounce.

Impairment dollar, which was the key currency of Bretton Woods, the change in the balance of power in the world economy led to a crisis of the system of fixed rates and the erosion of the Bretton Wool system. New principles of foreign exchange regulation, agreed in 1976. ( Jamaican Monetary System), consisted in a gradual transition to a system of floating rates, a complete departure from the gold standard, while maintaining the role of a fund of liquid assets for gold. The role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the regulation of the monetary system and the international monetary unit issued by it - the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) - was growing. By 1993, the transition of the majority developed countries from fixed to floating exchange rates... The International Monetary Fund was abolished and the official price gold. The possibility of using national currencies as world money created the preconditions for the transition from an asymmetric (with the dollar as reserves) to a symmetric multicurrency system. The formation of such a system was accelerated in connection with the formation of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and the introduction of the euro. In the development of the global financial market on the present stage there was a tendency to the formation of currency blocs (zones) around the leading currencies. This is the European euro area, as well as the informal dollar block of countries that, in their monetary policy, are guided by the American dollar (countries Latin America). In the future - the emergence of a new currency zone in South-East Asia.

The history of the creation of the Bretton Woods international monetary system Evolution of the monetary system. The patterns of development of the international monetary system are determined by the reproductive criterion, reflect the main stages of development of the national and world economy... This criterion is manifested in the periodic inconsistency of the principles of the currency system with changes in the structure world economy, as well as in the balance of power between its main centers. In this regard, the international monetary system periodically emerges. This is an explosion of currency contradictions, a sharp disruption of its functioning, manifested in the inconsistency of structural principles the organization the world monetary mechanism to the changed conditions of production, the world trade, the balance of power in the world. This concept arose with the crisis of the first monetary system - gold monometallism. Periodic crises of the international monetary system take a relatively long historical time: the crisis of the gold coin standard lasted about ten years (1913-1922), the Genoese monetary system - 8 years (1929-1936), the Bretton Woods - 10 years (1967-1976). ).

In a crisis of the monetary system, the operation of its structural principles is violated and currency contradictions are sharply exacerbated. Acute outbreaks and dramatic events associated with the currency crisis cannot last long without a threat to reproduction. Therefore, a variety of means are used to smooth out the acute forms of the currency crisis and to reform the international monetary system.

The evolution of the monetary system is determined by the development and needs of the national and international economy, changes in the balance of power in the world.

Influence of the second world wars... V period second world wars currency restrictions were introduced by both belligerent and neutral countries. The frozen official exchange rate remained almost unchanged during the war, although commodity prices grew, and the purchasing power of money fell as a result of inflation. The exchange rate has lost its active role in economic relations. This was due not only to currency restrictions, but also to the peculiarities of lending and financing external trade.

First, given the lessons of the inter-allied debts that arose as a result of the First World War and after it, the United States refused to provide loans and preferred military supplies under "Lend-Lease", i.e. for rent, in the amount of about $ 50 billion, including $ 30 billion in England and the countries of the British Commonwealth of Nations and $ 10 billion in the USSR. After the war, the United States determined the amount of compensation for the USSR, much higher than that of other countries.

Secondly, a long-term source of payment for imports of civilian goods was used.

Third, as a currency payment the currency of the debtor country was usually used without the right to convert it into gold and foreign currencies. In this manner England paid for deliveries raw materials and food with a number of countries, especially dependent. As a result, the problem of sterling holdings (deposits in foreign banks), reflecting the debt England other countries.

Fourthly, in war conditions, as always, the importance of gold as world money has increased. Military-strategic and scarce goods could only be purchased for this currency. Therefore, international settlements were partially carried out in gold. Britain before the introduction of Lend-Lease in 1943 paid in gold deliveries a number of goods from the United States, which led to its pumping into the American. The United States paid for the supply of raw materials and food from countries Latin America gold that was deposited with the New York Federal reserve bank and after the war it was spent by these countries for the purchase of American goods... The USSR also paid in gold import goods.

The fascist Republic of Germany spent almost all of its gold reserves in preparation for war, which officially amounted to only 26 tons in September 1938 against 12 thousand tons in the USA and 3.6 thousand tons in Britain. Formally denying the role of gold as a currency metal, the German fascists seized 1.3 thousand tons of gold in the central banks occupied countries.

During the war, Hitler's Federal Republic of Germany in addition to outright robbery, she used monetary and financial methods to plunder the occupied countries:

The issue of unsecured military occupation money, which formally paid for the supply of raw materials and food from these countries to Republic of Germany;

overvalued mark (66% against the Swiss French currency, 50% against the Belgian Swiss currency, by 42% to the Dutch guilder) allowed the Republic of Germany to buy for a pittance goods in these countries;

The national currencies were depreciated directly against the dollar, since, in accordance with the Bretton Woods agreement, fixed exchange rates were established against the American currency, and some currencies did not have gold parities.

The devaluation was carried out under the conditions of currency restrictions.

Devaluation was massive; it covered the currencies of 37 countries, which accounted for 60-70% of world capitalist trade. Among them are England, the countries of the British Commonwealth, Italy, Belgium, Sweden, the West Republic of Germany, Japan... Only the US has kept gold content dollar, established at the devaluation in 1934, although its purchasing power within the country has fallen by half compared with the pre-war period.

The depreciation of the exchange rate ranged from 12% (Belgian franc) to 30.5% (British pound sterling, other countries of the sterling zone, the Netherlands, Sweden, etc.).

Depreciation of currencies has caused appreciation import and additional price increases. As a result of the 1949 devaluation, wholesale prices increased in September 1950 in Austria by 30%, in England and Finland by 19%, France- by 14%. The inevitable consequence of devaluations was a decline in living standards.

The United States used the principles of the Bretton Woods system (the status of the dollar as a reserve currency, fixed parities and exchange rates, the conversion of the dollar into gold, the understated official price of gold) to strengthen its position in the world. The countries of Western Europe and Japan were interested in the undervaluation of their currencies in order to encourage exporting and rebuilding a shattered economy. Consequently, the Bretton Woods system has boosted world trade and production for a quarter of a century. However, the post-war international monetary system did not provide equal rights to all its participants and allowed the United States to influence the monetary politics Western European countries, Japan and other members of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The unequal monetary mechanism helped to strengthen the position of the United States in the world to the detriment of other countries and international cooperation. The contradictions of the Bretton Woods system gradually shattered it.

From Americanocentrism to Monetary Polycentrism. Economic, energy, commodity crises destabilized the Bretton Woods system in the 60s. The changing balance of power on the world stage has undermined its structural principles. Since the end of the 60s, the economic, financial, monetary, and technological superiority of the United States over its competitors has gradually weakened. Western and Japan, having strengthened their monetary and economic potential, began to crowd out the American partner. For countries " Common market"In 1984 accounted for 36.0% index industrial production OECD countries (USA - 34.3%), exporting 33.7% (USA - 12.7%). Specific gravity US gold reserves decreased from 75% in 1949 to 23%. At the same time, the share of EEC countries in gold reserves increased to 38%, in foreign exchange - up to 53% (USA - 10.8%).

The dollar is gradually losing its monopoly position in currency relations. The FRG mark, Swiss Franc, other Western European currencies and the currency of Japan compete with it on Forex markets are used as an international means of payment and reserve. If the share of the dollar in official foreign exchange reserves gradually decreased (from 84.5 to 73.1% in 1973-1980), then the share of the FRG mark increased accordingly (from 6.7 to 14%), Japanese currencies(from 0 to 3.7%), the Swiss currency (from 1.4 to 4.1%). The economic and currency dependence countries of Western Europe from the United States, characteristic of the first post-war years... With the formation of three centers of partnership and rivalries a new center of monetary power emerged in the form of the EEC, rivaling the United States and Japan.

From "Dollar hunger" to "dollar satiety." As the US uses the dollar to close its balance of payments deficit, this has led to a huge increase in its short-term external debt in the form of dollar savings of foreign banks. The "dollar hunger" was replaced by "dollar satiety." The surplus of dollars in the form of an avalanche of "hot" money periodically fell on one or the other country, causing currency shocks and flight from the dollar.

The collapse of currency zones. During the Second World War and after its end, currency zones were formed: sterling and dollar zones based on the corresponding pre-war currency blocks, zones of the French Swiss Franc, Portuguese escudo, Spanish peseta, Dutch guilder. While retaining the main features of currency blocs, currency zones reflected new phenomena associated with the strengthening of state regulation of monetary, financial and trade relations between their participants.

Firstly, interstate treaties have acquired an important role in the design and functioning of currency zones, especially the zone of the French Swiss currency (). For example, the Monetary Committee of the Swiss Currency Zone (centralized governing body) coordinates and guides the monetary and economic politics of this group. The monetary and economic policy of the sterling zone was developed and coordinated treasury and The Central Bank Great Britain.

Secondly, unlike currency blocs, the internal mechanism of currency zones was characterized by a unified monetary and financial regime, a unified system of currency restrictions, a centralized pool of gold and currency reserves that were stored in the hegemonic country, and a preferential regime for currency settlements within the grouping. The extension of the same currency control to all countries - members of the currency area gave it an official character.

Thirdly, international economic agreements of the members of the group were usually concluded by the country that led the zone. The mechanism of currency zones was directed against the expansion of foreign capital. With the crisis of the colonial system, centrifugal tendencies within the currency zones intensified, which subsequently led to the disintegration of the sterling, dollar and other zones and significant changes in the monetary and financial mechanism of the French Swiss Franc zone, which remained in a modified form.

Bretton Woods crisis

Crisis factors. Since the late 1960s, the Bretton Woods international monetary system has been in crisis. Its structural principles, established in 1944, have ceased to correspond to the conditions of production, world trade and the changed balance of power in the world. The essence of the crisis in the Bretton Woods system lies in the contradiction between the international nature of the IEE and the use for their implementation of national currencies subject to depreciation (mainly the dollar).

The causes of the crisis of the Bretton Woods world monetary system can be represented as a chain of interdependent factors.

Instability and contradictions of the economy. The onset of the currency crisis in 1967 coincided with a slowdown in economic growth. The global cyclical crisis gripped the Western economy in 1969-1970, 1974-1975, 1979-1983.

Gain inflation negatively affected world prices and competitiveness of firms, encouraged speculative movements of "hot" money. Different rates of inflation in different countries influenced the dynamics of the exchange rate, and the decrease in the purchasing power of money created conditions for “exchange rate distortions”.

Instability of balance of payments. Chronic deficit balances of some countries (especially Britain, the USA) and surplus of others (Germany, Japan) intensified sharp fluctuations exchange rates down and up respectively.

The discrepancy between the principles of the Bretton Woods system and the changed balance of power in the world arena. The world monetary system, based on the international use of depreciating national currencies - the dollar and partly the pound sterling, came into conflict with the internationalization of the world economy. This contradiction of the Bretton Woods system intensified as the economic positions of the United States and England weakened, which repaid their balances of payments with national currencies, abusing their status reserve currencies... As a result, the stability of the reserve currencies was undermined.

The right of dollar holders assets to exchange them for gold came into conflict with the ability of the United States to fulfill this obligation. Their external short-term debt increased 8.5 times over 1949-1971, while official gold reserves decreased 2.4 times. The consequence of the US policy of “no tears deficit” was to undermine confidence in the dollar. Undervalued in the interests of the United States, the official price of gold, which served as the basis for gold and currency parities, began to deviate sharply from the market price. Interstate regulation of this price turned out to be powerless. As a result, artificial gold parities lost their meaning. This contradiction was compounded by the stubborn refusal of the United States to devalue its currency until 1971. The regime of fixed parities and exchange rates exacerbated the “exchange rate distortions”. Under the Bretton Woods Agreement central banks were forced to carry out foreign exchange intervention using the dollar, even to the detriment of national interests. Thus, the United States shifted the responsibility of maintaining the dollar exchange rate to other countries, which exacerbated interstate contradictions. Since the Charter of the International Monetary Fund allowed only one-time devaluations and revaluations, in anticipation of them the movement of "hot" money intensified, a speculative game to depreciate the rate of weak currencies and to increase the rate of strong currencies. Interstate foreign exchange regulation through the International Monetary Fund (IMF) turned out to be almost inconclusive. His loans were insufficient to cover even temporary balance of payments deficits and to support currencies.

The principle of American-centrism, on which the Bretton Woods system was based, ceased to correspond to the new alignment of forces with the emergence of three world centers: the USA - Western Europe - Japan. The use by the United States of the status of the dollar as a reserve currency for expanding its foreign economic and military-political expansion, exporting inflation increased interstate disagreements and contradicted the interests of developing countries.

Activation of the Eurodollar market. As the United States covers its balance of payments deficit with its national currency, part of the dollars moves to foreign banks, contributing to the development of the Eurodollar market. This colossal "homeless" dollars ($ 750 billion, or 80% of the European market, in 1981 versus $ 2 billion in 1960) played a double role in the development of the crisis of the Bretton Woods system. At first, he supported the position of the American currency, absorbing the surplus of dollars, but in the 70s Eurodollar operations, accelerating the spontaneous movement of "hot" money between countries, exacerbated the currency crisis.

The disorganizing role of transnational corporations (TNCs) in the foreign exchange sphere: TNCs have gigantic short-term assets in different currencies that are more than double the foreign exchange reserves of central banks, elude national control and, in pursuit of profits, participate in currency speculation, giving it grandiose scope. In addition to general reasons, there were specific ones inherent in individual stages of the development of the Bretton Woods crisis.

Forms of manifestation of the crisis of the Bretton Woods international monetary system. "Currency fever" - the movement of "hot" money, the massive sale of unstable currencies in anticipation of their devaluation and the purchase of currencies - candidates for revaluation;

"" - flight from unstable currencies to gold and a periodic increase in its price;

panic in the stock markets and a fall in securities prices in anticipation of a change in the exchange rate;

aggravation of the problem of international monetary liquidity, especially its quality;

massive devaluation and revaluation of currencies (official and unofficial);

active foreign exchange intervention central banks, including the collective;

sharp fluctuations in official reserves of gold and currency;

the use of foreign loans and borrowings to the International Monetary Fund to support currencies;

violation of the structural principles of the Bretton Woods system;

activation of national and interstate currency regulation; strengthening of two trends in international economic and monetary relations - cooperation and contradictions, which periodically develop into trade and currency wars.

Stages of development of the crisis. The currency crisis developed in waves, hitting one or the other country at different times and with different strengths. The development of the crisis of the Bretton Woods world monetary system can be conditionally divided into several stages.

Devaluation of the pound sterling.

Due to the deterioration of the country's monetary and economic situation, on November 18, 1967, the gold content and the pound sterling were depreciated by 14.3%. Following England, 25 countries, mainly its trading partners, have devalued their currencies in different proportions.

Golden fever, the collapse of the gold pool, the formation of a double gold market.

The owners of dollars began to sell them for gold. The volume of transactions in the London gold market increased from its usual value of 5-6 tons per day to 65-200 tons (November 22-23, 1967), and the price of gold rose to $ 41 at the official price of $ 35 per ounce. The outbursts of the gold rush led to the disintegration of the gold pool in March 1968 and the formation of a double gold market.

Devaluation of the French Swiss currency. The currency crisis was detonated by currency speculation - a game for the depreciation of the Swiss currency (CHF) and the appreciation of the FRG mark in anticipation of its revaluation. The attack of the mark on the franc was accompanied by political pressure from Bonn on Paris and an outflow of capital from France, mainly in the FRG, which caused a reduction in the official reserves of gold and the country's currency (from 6.6 billion dollars in May 1968 to 2.6 billion in August 1969). Despite the foreign exchange intervention of the Bank of France, the Swiss currency fell to the lower admissible limit. The stormy political events in France, the resignation of Charles de Gaulle, and the FRG's refusal to revalue the mark increased the pressure on the franc. On August 8, 1969, the gold content and the Swiss Franc rate were depreciated by 11.1% (foreign exchange rates against the Swiss currency (CHF) increased by 12.5%). At the same time, the currencies of 13 countries of the African continent and Madagascar were devalued.

Revaluation of the FRG mark.

On October 24, 1969, the exchange rate of the mark was raised by 9.3% (from 4 to 3.66 marks per dollar) and the floating exchange rate regime was canceled. The revaluation was a concession of the FRG to the international financial capital: it helped improve the balance of payments of its partners, as their currencies were effectively devalued. The outflow of "hot" money from the FRG replenished the foreign exchange reserves of these countries. For 20 months, there was a relative calm in the Forex markets, but the causes of the currency crisis were not eliminated.

Devaluation of the dollar in December 1971

The crisis of the Bretton Woods system reached its climax in the spring and summer of 1971, when the main one was at its epicenter. The dollar crisis coincided with a prolonged depression in the US after economic crisis 1969-1970 Under the influence of inflation, the purchasing power of the dollar fell by 2/3 in mid-1971 compared with 1934, when it was set in gold. The aggregate current account deficit in the United States amounted to $ 71.7 billion in 1949-1971. The country's short-term external debt increased from $ 7.6 billion in 1949 to $ 64.3 billion in 1971, 6.3 times exceeding the official gold reserve, which declined over this period from $ 24.6 billion to $ 10.2 billion

The crisis of the American currency was expressed in its massive sale for gold and stable currencies, and a fall in the exchange rate. Uncontrollably wandering Eurodollars flooded the Forex markets of Western Europe and Japan. The central banks of these countries were forced to buy them in order to maintain the exchange rates of their currencies within the limits established by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The dollar crisis caused a political form of action by countries (especially France) against the privilege of the United States, which covered the deficit of the balance of payments with the national currency. exchanged $ 3.5 billion in the US Treasury for gold in 1967-1969. Since the late 1960s, the conversion of the dollar into gold has become a fiction: in 1970, the $ 50 billion holdings of non-residents were opposed by only $ 11 billion of official gold reserves. The United States took a number of measures to save the Bretton Woods system in the 60s.

Attraction of foreign exchange resources from other countries. Dollar balances have been partially converted into direct loans. Operational agreements were concluded "" ($ 2.3 billion in 1965, $ 11.3 billion in 1970) between New York Federal Reserve Bank and a number of foreign central banks. Ruza short-term booms were placed in the west European countries Oh.

Collective defense of the dollar. Under US pressure, the central banks of most countries refrained from exchanging their dollar reserves for gold in the US treasury. The International Monetary Fund has invested part of its gold reserves in dollars contrary to the Charter. Leading central banks created a gold pool (1962) to support the price of gold, and after its collapse, on March 17, 1968, they introduced a double gold market.

Doubling capital International Monetary Fund (IMF) (up to $ 28 billion) and general agreement of 10 member countries of the Fund and Switzerland on loans to the Fund ($ 6 billion), release SDR in 1970 to cover the balance of payments deficit.

The United States stubbornly resisted the imminent devaluation of the dollar and insisted on the revaluation of the currencies of its trading partners. In May 1971, the revaluation of the Swiss currency and the Austrian schilling was carried out, the floating exchange rate of the FRG and the Netherlands was introduced, which led to an actual depreciation of the dollar by 6-8%. Latent devaluation suited the United States, since it did not affect the prestige of the reserve currency as destructively as the official one. To break the resistance of trade rivals, the United States adopted a policy of protectionism. On August 15, 1971, emergency measures were announced to save the dollar: the exchange of dollars for gold for foreign central banks ("gold embargo") was stopped, and an additional 10% import was introduced. The United States embarked on a trade and currency war. The influx of dollars into Western Europe and Japan caused a massive transition to floating exchange rates and thus a speculative attack on the dollar by their strengthened currencies. France introduced a dual currency Forex market following the example of Belgium, where it operated since 1952. Western European countries began to openly oppose the dollar's privileged position in the international monetary system.

The search for a way out of the currency crisis ended with the compromise Washington agreement of the "Group of Ten" on December 18, 1971. An agreement was reached on the following points:

Devaluation of the dollar by 7.89% and an increase in the official price of gold by 8.57% (from 35 to 38 dollars per ounce);

revaluation of a number of currencies;

expanding the limits of fluctuations in exchange rates from +/- 1 to +/- 2.25% of their parities and the establishment of central rates instead of currency parities;

abolition of 10% customs tax in the United States.

But the US has not pledged to restore the convertibility of the dollar into gold and participate in foreign exchange intervention. Thus, they retained the privileged status of the dollar, which is now not materially supported.

Dollar devaluation was signed the president R. Nixon on April 3 and approved by Congress on April 26, 1972. The increase in the price of gold was legalized after the registration of the new dollar parity with the International Monetary Fund and the notification of the member countries on May 8, 1972 exchange rate and its legal form was of practical importance for international settlements, since when implementing protective clauses, a normative act was taken into account. The devaluation of the dollar triggered a chain reaction: at the end of 1971, 96 of the 118 member countries of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) set a new exchange rate against the dollar, with 50 currencies appreciating to varying degrees. Taking into account the different degrees of increase in the exchange rate of other countries and their share in US foreign trade, the weighted average value of the dollar devaluation was 10-12%.

Devaluation of the dollar in February 1973

The Washington Agreement temporarily smoothed out the contradictions, but did not eliminate them. In the summer of 1972, a floating rate of the pound sterling was introduced, which meant its actual devaluation by 6-8%. This complicated the relationship between Britain and the EEC, as it violated the agreement of the countries of the "Common Market" (April 24, 1972) to narrow the limits of exchange rate fluctuations to +/- 1.125%. Britain was forced to compensate the owners of sterling auars and introduce a dollar, and since April 1974 - a multi-currency clause as a guarantee of the preservation of their value. Foreign exchange restrictions were tightened to curb capital flight abroad. The pound sterling has lost its reserve currency status.

In February-March 1973, the currency crisis hit the dollar again. The impetus was the instability of the Italian lira, which led to the introduction in Italy of a dual currency Forex market (from January 22, 1973 to March 22, 1974), following the example of Belgium and France. " Golden fever”And the rise in the market price of gold again exposed the weakness of the dollar. However, unlike in 1971, the United States failed to achieve revaluation of the currencies of Western Europe and Japan. On February 12, 1973, the dollar was again devalued by 10% and the official gold price was increased by 11.1% (from $ 38 to $ 42.22 per ounce). The massive sale of dollars led to the closure of the leading Forex markets (March 2-19). The new consensus - the transition to floating exchange rates from March 1973 - corrected the "exchange rate distortions" and relieved the tension in the international Forex markets.

Six countries of the "Common Market" canceled the external limits of the agreed fluctuations in the exchange rates of their currencies ("tunnel") against the dollar and other currencies. The detachment of the “European currency snake” from the dollar led to the emergence of a kind of currency zone headed by the FRG mark. This indicated the formation of a Western European zone of monetary stability as opposed to the unstable dollar, which accelerated the collapse of the Bretton Woods system.

Interweaving the currency crisis with the energy and global economic crisis. The rise in prices at the end of 1973 led to an increase in the current account deficit in industrialized countries. The exchange rates of Western Europe and Japan fell sharply. There was a temporary increase in the dollar exchange rate, as the United States was better provided with energy resources than its competitors, and the positive effect of its two devaluations on the country's balance of payments appeared, although not immediately. The currency crisis intertwined with the world economic crisis in 1974-1975, which increased the fluctuation of exchange rates (up to 20% per year at the end of the 70s). The dollar fell during the 70s, except for short periods of its rise. Covering the national currency deficit current operations balance of payments, the United States contributed to the pumping of dollars into international circulation (8.9 billion - in 1950, 292.5 - in 1980). As a result, other countries have become "unwilling borrowers" in relation to the United States. In the XIX century. a similar monetary and financial method was used by England, taking advantage of the privileged position of the pound sterling in international monetary relations.

Features and socio-economic consequences of the crisis of the Bretton Woods international monetary system. Between the currency crises of 1929-1933 and 1967-1976. there is a certain similarity. These structural crises of the monetary system gripped all countries, became protracted and led to a violation of its principles. However, the crisis of the Bretton Woods system has a number of peculiarities.

Interweaving of cyclical and ad hoc currency crises. The crisis of the Bretton Woods world monetary system was combined not only with the world economic crises, but also with periodic revival and economic recovery.

The active role of TNCs in the development of the currency crisis. TNCs have concentrated 40% of the industrial production index, 60% of foreign trade, 80% of the developed technology of the West. Large foreign exchange assets and the scale of Euro-currency, especially Euro-dollar, operations of TNCs gave the crisis of the Bretton Woods system enormous scope and depth.

Disorganizing role of the USA. Using the privileged position of the dollar as a reserve currency to cover the deficit of its balance of payments, the United States flooded the countries of Western Europe and Japan with dollars, causing disruptions in their economies, increased inflation, instability of currencies, which deepened interstate conflicts.

The emergence of three centers of power. Structural principles of the Bretton Woods system, established during the period of undivided dominion The United States has ceased to correspond to the new alignment of forces in the world. The countries of Western Europe, especially the EU, are creating their own center of monetary power in opposition to the hegemony of the dollar, and Japan is using yen as a reserve currency in the Asian region.

The wave-like development of the currency crisis, as evidenced by the stages of its development discussed above.

Massive currency devaluations and periodic revaluation of individual currencies. Comparison of the devaluations of the 60-70s and 1949 reveals their differences in the following indicators:

A. scale: in 1967-1973. repeated devaluations covered hundreds of currencies (against 37 in 1949), including twice the dollar - a reserve currency;

B. size: in the 60-70s, the size of devaluations (on average 8-15%) were significantly less than in 1949 (up to 30.5%) and after the First World War (up to 80%). The prevalence of small devaluations without a safety margin is due to the fear of countries to cause a chain reaction in connection with the increased internationalization of economic ties;

B. duration: in the 60s and 70s, devaluations lasted for a number of years, as in the 30s, and in 1949 this event was held almost simultaneously in 37 countries;

D. procedure for conducting: devaluations are carried out not only legally, but also in fact in connection with revaluation in conditions of floating exchange rates.

And in 1949, during the post-war devastation, the question of revaluation was not even raised and the regime of fixed exchange rates prevailed.

The structural nature of the monetary system crisis. With the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, its structural principles were canceled: the exchange of dollars for gold was stopped, the official price of gold and gold parities were canceled, interstate payments in gold were stopped, a floating exchange rate regime was introduced, the dollar and pound sterling officially lost the status of reserve currencies. For this role, the FRG brand began to be nominated and Japanese yen... They began to use the original forms of world credit money - SDR, ECU.

The impact of government foreign exchange regulation. On the one hand, it contributes to the aggravation of contradictions in the currency sphere; on the other, regulation at the national and interstate levels in order to mitigate the effects of the currency crisis and seek a way out of it through currency reform.

The currency crisis, disorganizing the economy, hampering foreign trade, increasing the instability of currencies, generates severe socio-economic consequences. This manifests itself in an increase in unemployment, freezing wages, rising costs. The revaluation is accompanied by a decrease in employment in export industries, and devaluation, increasing the cost of imports, is a form of organization monetary relations, calculations, established by the Bretton Woods conference in 1944, according to which the role of world money, along with gold, is played by the US dollar. In English: Bretton Woods system See also: World Monetary System ... Financial vocabulary

- – international system mutual settlements and currency relations, which existed in 1944-1976. Named after the location of the UN conference in Bretton Wood, USA. It was the Bretton Woods system that turned the dollar into an international means ... ... Banking encyclopedia

English. Bretton Woods system world monetary system, which took shape at the UN monetary and financial conference in Bretton Woods (USA) in 1944. consisted of agreements on the creation of the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and ... ... Business glossary

BRETTON WOODEN EXCHANGE SYSTEM- a form of organization of world monetary relations, settlements, established by the Bretton Woods conference in 1944. According to this system, the role of world money, along with gold, is played by the US dollar. B.V.c. it is a system of interstate gold exchange ... Legal encyclopedia

BRETTON WOODEN EXCHANGE SYSTEM- a form of organization of monetary relations, settlements, established by the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, according to which the role of world money, along with gold, is played by the US dollar. Raizberg B.A., Lozovsky L.Sh., Starodubtseva E.B .. Modern ... ... Economic Dictionary

Bretton Woods monetary system Encyclopedia of Law

BRETTON WOODEN EXCHANGE SYSTEM- the international monetary system that operated from the end of World War II to the mid-70s. The basic principles of the system were agreed upon at the UN monetary and financial conference in Bretton Woods (USA) in 1944 and fixed in the charter of the ... ... Foreign economic explanatory dictionary

BRETTON WOODEN EXCHANGE SYSTEM- a form of organization of world monetary relations, settlements, established by the Bretton Woods conference in 1944. According to this system, the role of world money, along with gold, is played by the US dollar B. it is a system of interstate gold exchange ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Economics and Law

Bretton Woods monetary system- one of the forms of organization of monetary relations (settlements and payments) of the countries of the West. Europe, due to their international economic ties. B.V.c. operated after World War II (established in 1944 by the Bretton Woods Conference ... ... Big Law Dictionary

Bretton Woods monetary system- the form of organization of monetary relations, settlements, established by the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, according to which the role of world money, along with gold, is played by the US dollar ... Dictionary of economic terms

Somehow we had a completely controversial topic, but now we will talk about very real things.

72 years ago, on July 1, 1944, a fundamental change in the world economy began, recorded in agreements a few days later. However, the understanding of what happened came to ordinary people much later.

The world of finance has always been something of a mixture of balancing act with the magic of circus magicians. Most of its basic concepts are difficult to understand, not only by ear, but are also completely arbitrary in nature. At the same time, finance is inextricably linked with money, and money has always been an instrument of power. It is not surprising that with their help, for many centuries, someone has constantly tried to take over the world.

For example, in July 1944, at the Mount Washington Hotel in the resort town of Bretton Woods (New Hampshire, USA), a group of gentlemen held a conference, the result of which was the eponymous global financial system, which marked America's final victory over its long-standing geopolitical world rival - Great Britain. The winner went to the rest of the world - more precisely, almost the entire world, since the Soviet Union refused to join the new system. However, for the United States, too, it became only an intermediate step towards world financial hegemony, which America was able to achieve, but, apparently, it was not destined to stay on the Olympus.

Stages of a long journey

The transition from a subsistence economy to machine production, among other things, caused a large-scale increase in labor productivity, thereby forming a significant surplus of goods that local markets could no longer absorb. This pushed the countries to expand foreign trade. So, for example, in 1800-1860 the average annual volume of Russian exports increased from 60 million to 230 million rubles, and imports - from 40 million to 210 million. But Russian empire in international trade was far from the first place. The leading positions were held by Great Britain, France, Germany and the USA.

Such a large-scale exchange of goods could no longer fit within the tight framework of a subsistence economy and required the widespread use of a common denominator in the form of money. This also gave rise to the problem of comparing their value with each other, which ultimately led to the recognition of gold as the universal equivalent of value. Gold played the role of money for centuries, it was available to all "big players", it was traditionally minted from it. But something else turned out to be more important. International trade realized the need not only for a mechanism for predicting the value of money, but also the importance of the stability of the ratio of their value to each other.

Using the pegging of national currencies to gold made it very easy to solve both problems at once. Your candy wrapper is "worth", let's say, one ounce (31.1 g) of gold, mine - two ounces, therefore, my candy wrapper is "equal" to two of yours. By 1867, this system was finally formed and was consolidated at the conference of industrialized countries in Paris. The leading world trading power of that time was Great Britain, therefore the stable exchange rate of 4.248 British pounds per ounce established by it became a kind of foundation of the world financial system. The rest of the currencies were also denominated in gold, but, yielding to the pound in terms of the share of world trade, eventually came to be expressed in terms of the British pound.

However, even then, the United States began its own game of overthrowing the British monetary hegemony. Within the framework of the Paris monetary system, the United States achieved not only fixing the dollar to gold ($ 20.672 per ounce), but also fixed a rule according to which free trade in gold could be carried out only in two places: in London and New York. And nowhere else. This is how the gold mint parity was formed: 4.866 US dollars for the British pound. The exchange rates of other currencies had the right to fluctuate only within the framework of the cost of sending the amount of gold equivalent to one unit of foreign currency between the gold sites of the UK and the USA. If they went beyond the boundaries of this corridor, the outflow of gold from the country or, conversely, its inflow began, which was determined by the negative or positive balance of the national balance of payments. Thus, the system quickly returned to equilibrium.

In this form, the "gold standard" existed until the outbreak of the First World War and, in general, ensured the effectiveness of the mechanism of international finance. Although even then Great Britain faced the problem of cyclical expansion-contraction of the money supply, fraught with depletion of the national gold reserve.

The Great War, as the First World War was then called, greatly shattered world economy, which could not but affect its financial system. London could no longer play the role of the world's reserve currency alone. The sheer scale of the domestic economy simply did not generate enough gold to support other countries' demand for British pounds, and Britain's own trade surplus remained negative. This meant the actual bankruptcy of the British lion, but the gentlemen from the City took a clever step and at the international economic conference in Genoa in 1922 proposed new standard, which received the name of the gold exchange. Formally, it almost did not differ from the Parisian "gold", unless the dollar was already officially recognized as an international measure of value on a par with gold. Then a small fraud began. The dollar kept gold backing, and the pound remained tightly pegged to the dollar, although it was no longer possible to exchange it for the corresponding gold equivalent.

Conference in Genoa in 1922. Photo: ics.purdue.edu

I will command the parade

However, the Genoese monetary system did not last long. Already in 1931, Great Britain was forced to officially cancel the convertibility of the pound into gold, and the Great Depression forced America to revise the gold content of its currency from $ 20.65 to $ 35 per ounce. The United States, which by that time had a positive trade balance, began an active expansion into Europe. To protect against it, Britain and other leading countries have introduced prohibitive customs tariffs and outright restrictions on imports. The volume of international trade and, accordingly, mutual settlements fell sharply. The exchange of currency for gold in all countries was discontinued, and by 1937 the world monetary system had ceased to exist.

Unfortunately, before her death, she managed to lead the US banking circles to the idea of ​​the possibility of seizing complete leadership in the world economy through the acquisition by the dollar of the status of the only backup system... And the Second that ravaged Europe World War came in handy here. If Hitler had not existed, he would have been invented in Washington.

So when on July 1, 1944, representatives of 44 countries, including the USSR, gathered at the Bretton Woods conference to resolve the issue of the financial structure of the post-war world, the United States proposed a system that was at the same time very similar to the one that "worked well before", and at the same time leading the world to the official recognition of America's leading role. In short, she looked simple and elegant. The US dollar is tightly pegged to gold (all the same $ 35 per troy ounce, or 0.88571 g per dollar). All other currencies fix rates against the dollar and can change them no more than plus or minus 0.75% of this value. Apart from the dollar and the pound, no world currency had the right to be exchanged for gold.

In fact, the dollar was becoming the world's only reserve currency. The British pound retained some privileged status, but by that time more than 70% of the world's gold reserves were in the United States (21,800 tons), the dollar was used in more than 60% of international trade settlements, and Washington promised huge loans in exchange for ratifying the Bretton Woods terms to restore the economies of countries after the war. So, the Soviet Union was offered to allocate 6 billion dollars, which was a huge amount, since the entire volume of lend-lease was estimated at 11 billion.However, Stalin correctly estimated the consequences and prudently refused the offer: the Soviet Union signed the Bretton Woods agreements, but they has not ratified.

The governments of other European countries actually signed a cabal and, with the ratification of the Bretton Woods conditions, could issue exactly as much of their own money as their central banks had the world reserve currency - American dollars. This provided the United States with the broadest opportunities to control the entire world economy. This also allowed them to establish the International Monetary Fund, The World Bank and GATT - General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, later transformed into the World trade organization(WTO).

The world began to live according to the Bretton Woods system (BWS).

Wall Street trading floor, USA, 1939. Photo: hudson.org

As the external debt of Great Britain and the United States increased from year to year and soon exceeded the size of the gold reserves of these countries, and the governments of foreign countries became more and more convinced that, while maintaining the existing international monetary system, they were forced to finance the deficits of the United Kingdom and the United States (whose policy they could not control and at times did not agree with her), the two above conditions began to contradict each other.

The Bretton Woods system was well conceived but could only work effectively if the underlying reserve currency was stable. And this condition was not met in the end. In the 1960s, the US balance of payments was mostly negative, which meant that the amount of dollars held by foreigners increased rapidly as US gold reserves were depleted.

Throughout the 1960s, the dollar gradually lost its ability to exchange for gold, but the system of the contractual credit reserve standard allowed maintaining at least the appearance of the existence of a gold and foreign exchange standard. As a result, the United States for a long time managed to evade the need to eliminate the balance of payments deficit by changing domestic economic policy or the dollar exchange rate. In the end, however, when the American government, instead of raising tax rates began to increase the money supply in circulation in order to pay the costs of the war in Vietnam, in the United States there was a surge in inflation. As the money supply grows interest rates fell, and prices domestic market increased rapidly, which led to a decrease in the competitiveness of American goods abroad.

The first crisis broke out in October 1960, when the price of gold on the private market in a short time rose to $ 40 an ounce at the official price of $ 35 an ounce. This crisis was followed by the gold, dollar and sterling crises. Such a development of events could soon end with the collapse of the entire world monetary system, similar to the collapse of 1931, but in reality it led to an unprecedentedly close cooperation of all the leading states of the world in the monetary sphere and increased the readiness of countries with excess reserves to continue financing operations to save the monetary system in the period while there was a discussion of fundamental reforms.

Despite the growing income from foreign investment, the surplus of the US balance of payments on trade in goods and services (including income from foreign investment), remittances and pensions, which reached $ 7.5 billion in 1964, was replaced by a deficit of approx. 800 million dollars in 1971. In addition, the volume of capital exports from the United States all these years stably kept at the level of 1% of the gross national product; however, if in the late 1960s, high interest rates in the country contributed to an inflow of approx. $ 24 billion of foreign capital, then in the early 1970s low rates caused a massive dumping of securities and an outflow of investments abroad.

French demarche

For all the elegance of its design and great prospects for the United States, the BVS itself contained fundamental problems that had manifested themselves back in the days of the "gold standard". While the US economy was about a third of the world, and if we subtract the socialist countries, then 60% of the total Western economy, the share of dollars issued for lending to foreign financial systems was significantly less than the money supply circulating within the United States itself. The balance of payments was positive, thus allowing America to continue to get rich. But as the European economy recovered, the share of the United States began to decline, and American capital, taking advantage of the high cost of the dollar, began to actively flow abroad to buy cheap foreign assets. In addition, the profitability of foreign investments was three times higher than the profitability of the American market, which further stimulated the outflow of capital from the USA. America's trade balance gradually turned negative.

The strict restrictions on gold trading that existed in the BVS did not help either, in fact, restricting its acquisition even by the central banks of other states, and depriving any private investors altogether of such an opportunity. In addition, the emerging transnational corporations used their foreign capital for an active exchange game, including against the dollar. The sharpening imbalance between the theoretical model of the BVS and the actual state of affairs in the world economy led not only to the emergence of a black market for gold, but also brought its price there to more than $ 60 per troy ounce, that is, twice as high as the official one.

It is clear that such a discrepancy could not last long. It is believed that the BVS was broken by French President General de Gaulle, who collected the "ship of dollars" and presented it to the United States for immediate exchange for gold. This story did take place. At a meeting with President Lyndon Johnson in 1965, de Gaulle announced that France had accumulated $ 1.5 billion in paper dollars, which it intended to exchange for the yellow metal at the official rate of $ 35 an ounce. According to the rules, the United States had to transfer more than 1,300 tons of gold to the French. Considering that by this time no one knew the exact size of the US gold reserve, but there were persistent rumors about its reduction to 9 thousand tons, and the cost of the entire mass of printed dollars clearly exceeded the equivalent of even the official number of 21 thousand tons, America would agree to such an exchange I could not. Nevertheless, France, through tough pressure (for example, the country withdrew from the NATO military organization) managed to overcome the resistance of Washington and in two years, together with Germany, thus removed from the United States more than 3 thousand tons of gold.

The ability of the United States to keep the dollar convertible into gold was becoming impossible. By the beginning of the 70s. there was a redistribution of gold reserves in favor of Europe, and more and more cash and non-cash US dollars participated in the international circulation. Confidence in the dollar as a reserve currency was further diminished by the huge US balance of payments deficit. The US deficit in terms of official payments reached an unprecedented size - $ 10.7 billion in 1970 and $ 30.5 billion in 1971, with a maximum of $ 49.5 billion (annualized) in the third quarter of 1971.

There were significant problems with international liquidity as gold production was low compared to the growth in international trade. New financial centers were formed (Western Europe, Japan), and their national currencies began to gradually be used as reserve ones. This led to the loss of the United States of its absolute dominant position in the financial world.

In accordance with the rules of the IMF, the resulting surplus of dollars in the private foreign exchange market had to be absorbed by foreign central banks, which was required to maintain the existing currency parities. However, such actions gave rise to expectations of a depreciation of the dollar against the stronger currencies of countries that have accumulated huge dollar claims, in particular France, West Germany and Japan. These expectations were reinforced by the official statements of the US government that it considers the change in exchange rates as a measure necessary to restore the balance of payments and the competitiveness of American goods in foreign markets. On August 15, 1971, the United States officially announced the suspension of the exchange of dollars for gold. At the same time, to strengthen its position in the upcoming negotiations, the United States introduced a temporary 10 percent premium to import duties. The introduction of the premium had two purposes: to restrict imports by making them more expensive and to warn governments foreign countries that unless they take drastic steps to boost US exports, their own exports to the US will be severely limited.

This is where the story of the Bretton Woods financial system ended, since after such an embarrassment, the United States, under various pretexts, refused to exchange green papers for real gold. On August 15, 1971, the next President of the United States, Richard Nixon, formally canceled the gold backing of the dollar.

Over the 27 years of its existence, BVS has done the main thing - it has raised the American dollar to the top of world finance and has firmly associated it with the concept of independent value. That is, the value of this piece of paper was given only by what is written on it - "dollar" - and not the amount of gold for which it could be exchanged. The abandonment of gold backing lifted the last restrictions on the US money issue... Now the FRS could officially decide at its meeting how many dollars the world needs, without worrying about any kind of security.

Smithsonian Agreement.

After the August 15 announcements, those countries with positive balance of payments, which had not yet switched to floating rates of their currencies, were forced to do so. However, the governing monetary institutions of these countries have tried to limit the appreciation of their currencies and thus maintain the competitiveness of their products in international markets. At the same time, governments were keen to avoid a return to the destructive protectionist policies that prevailed in the world in 1931 after the termination of the exchange of pounds for gold and could again become dominant now that the exchange of dollars for gold has ceased. The danger of a return to the past was eliminated with the help of agreements reached on December 18, 1971 at negotiations between representatives of the G-10 countries at the Smithsonian Institution (Washington).

First, the terms of the multilateral revision of exchange rates were agreed, which entailed a devaluation of the US dollar against gold by 7.89% and a simultaneous increase in the exchange rates of many other countries. As a result, the value of the world's leading currencies increased by 7-19% against the previous dollar parity. Until early 1972, many other countries did not change their IMF-fixed currency parities; as a consequence, the value of their currencies against the dollar also rose automatically. Some countries have resorted to adjusting the parity of their currencies to maintain their previous exchange rate against the dollar, while others have increased or decreased their national currencies against the dollar. Secondly, the G10 agreed to temporarily set the limits of permissible exchange rate fluctuations at the level of 2.25% of the new exchange rate, which so far excluded the free floating of currencies. Finally, third, the United States agreed to abolish the 10 percent premium on import duties.

As a result measures taken the gold and foreign exchange standard was transformed into a paper-dollar standard, in which all countries, with the exception of the United States, took on risky obligations to maintain the new exchange rates, which were actually enshrined in the Smithsonian Agreement.

Jamaican system

Supporters of monetarism advocated market regulation against government intervention, revived the idea of ​​automatic self-regulation of the balance of payments, and proposed introducing a floating exchange rate regime (M. Fridman, F. Makhlup, and others). The neo-Keynesians turned to the previously rejected idea of ​​J. M. Keynes about the creation of an international currency (R. Triffin, W. Martin, A. Day. F. Peru, J. Denise). The US has embarked on a course towards the ultimate demonetization of gold and the creation of international liquidity to support the dollar. Western Europe, especially France, sought to limit dollar hegemony and expand IMF lending.

Looking for a way out financial crisis were conducted for a long time, first in academic, and then in ruling circles and numerous committees. The IMF prepared in 1972-1974. the project for the reform of the world monetary system.

Its device was officially agreed at the IMF conference in Kingston (Jamaica) in January 1976 by the agreement of the IMF member countries. The Jamaican system is based on the principle of complete rejection of the gold standard. The reasons for the crisis are described in the article Bretton Woods monetary system. The rules and principles of regulation were finally formed by 1978, when the amendment to the IMF charter was ratified by a majority vote. Thus, the current world monetary system was created.

According to the plan, the Jamaican monetary system was to become more flexible than the Bretton Woods, and to adapt more quickly to the volatility of balances of payments and national currencies. However, despite the approval of floating exchange rates, the dollar, formally deprived of the status of the main means of payment, actually remained in this role, which is due to the more powerful economic, scientific, technical and military potential of the United States in comparison with other countries.
In addition, the chronic weakness of the dollar, characteristic of the 70s, was replaced by a sharp increase in its exchange rate by almost 2/3 from August 1980 to March 1985, under the influence of a number of factors.

The introduction of floating exchange rates instead of fixed exchange rates in most countries (since March 1973) did not ensure their stability, despite the enormous costs of foreign exchange intervention. This regime has proven incapable of ensuring the rapid equalization of balances of payments and inflation in the region. different countries, do away with sudden capital movements, speculation on rates, etc.
A number of countries continued to peg their national currencies to other currencies: dollar, pound, etc., some pegged their rates to "currency baskets", or SDRs.

One of the basic principles of the Jamaican World Monetary System was the legally completed demoneetarization of gold. Gold parities were abolished, and the exchange of dollars for gold was discontinued.

The Jamaican Agreement finally abolished the gold parities of national currencies, as well as SDR units. Therefore, it was viewed in the West as the official demonetization of gold, depriving it of all monetary functions in the field of international turnover. The beginning of the actual ousting of the "yellow metal" from international monetary relations was laid.

Formally, the Jamaican system exists to this day, but in fact, we can see the beginning of its end. Because it contains even more systemic contradictions than there was in Bretton Woods, but there is no more gold in it, which can at least be felt and counted.

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The Bretton Woods monetary system is an international form of organization of monetary and financial relations and trade settlements, which was formed after the Second World War.

Definition, history and goals of the creation of the Bretton Woods monetary system, problems of its functioning, crisis and fall, key dates, forms of manifestation and consequences of the crisis of the Bretton Woods monetary system

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The Bretton Woods monetary system is, the definition

Bretton Woods system, the Bretton Woods system is the international system for organizing monetary relations and trade settlements, established as a result of the Bretton Woods conference, held from July 1 to 22, 1944. Changed financial system based on the "gold standard". Named after the Bretton Woods resort in New Hampshire, USA. The conference laid the foundation for such organizations as International Bank reconstruction and development (IBRD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The US dollar has become a type of world money, along with gold. In 1971-1978, the Bretton Woods system was replaced by the Jamaican monetary system based on free currency trading (free conversion of currencies). The USSR, which took part in the conference, signed the agreement but did not ratify it later.

Bretton Woods monetary system or Bretton Woods agreement) - this is international system of organization of monetary relations and trade settlements, established as a result of the Bretton Woods Conference (from July 1 to 22, 1944) The name comes from the name of the Bretton Woods resort in New Hampshire, USA. The system laid the foundation for organizations such as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The US dollar has become a type of world money, along with gold. It was a transitional stage from the gold exchange standard to free conversion based on supply and demand.

a form of organization of monetary relations, settlements established by the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, according to which the role of world money, along with gold, is played by the US dollar.

The Bretton Woods monetary system is the world monetary system, which took shape at the UN monetary and financial conference in Bretton Woods (USA) in 1944. The Bretton Woods monetary system consisted of treaties establishing the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The main principle of the Bretton Woods monetary system is that the function of world money remained with gold, but the scale of its use in international monetary relations was significantly reduced, and the US dollar was introduced as an international means of payment in international circulation. To mitigate the crises of individual currencies, states issued loans to each other through the IMF. The Bretton Woods monetary system was a system of interstate gold-dollar standard and put the US dollar in a privileged position, thanks to which the United States could repay its debts not in gold, but in dollars. The rapid development of the economies of Western Europe in the 60s. and other reasons led to the international monetary crisis. In 1971, the exchange of dollars for gold was discontinued and all currencies lost any connection with gold.

The Bretton Woods monetary system is the international monetary system, formed after the Second World War and based on the adaptation of national monetary systems to the monetary systems of the leading states at that time, primarily to national system USA. The system was installed as a result of the Bretton Woods Conference (July 1 to 22, 1944). The name comes from the name of the Bretton Woods resort in New Hampshire, USA. The system laid the foundation for organizations such as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Bretton Woods monetary system is the international system of mutual settlements and currency relations, which existed in 1944-1976. Named after the location of the UN conference in Bretton Wood, USA. It was the Bretton Woods system that turned the dollar into an international means of calculating and storing reserves. The Bretton Woods System was created to take the global economy to a new level after World War II. It is believed that it coped with this task, but in the future, developing world trade required more means of settlement than US dollars, which were backed by cash in gold. Therefore, by 1976, the exchange of currency for precious metals was completely discontinued. As a result, the leading powers entered into a new international agreement that created the so-called Jamaican monetary system, which was in effect until today.

The Bretton Woods monetary system is the system of currency regulation, which was created on the basis of an agreement signed by representatives of 44 countries at the UN currency and financial conference, held in 1944. in Bretgon Woods (USA). Decisions were made to create the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, which entered it as the main institutions. The introduced currency regulation rules were aimed at stabilizing exchange rates and liberalizing world trade. They assumed the fixation of exchange rates by linking them with gold and the US dollar, which were given the functions of international foreign exchange reserves (gold-currency standard). Only minimal divergence (deviation) of national currency rates from their dollar parity or gold content was allowed. The official price of gold was established by the IMF charter: 35 US dollars per troy ounce. The depreciation of the dollar, which was the key currency of Bretton Woods, and the change in the balance of power in the world economy led to a crisis of the system of fixed rates and the erosion of the Bretton Woods system.

New principles of foreign exchange regulation, agreed in 1976. (Jamaican monetary system), consisted in a gradual transition to a floating rate system, a complete departure from the gold standard while maintaining the role of a fund of liquid assets for gold. The role of the IMF in the regulation of the world monetary system and the international monetary unit issued by it - the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) - increased. By 1993, the transition of most developed countries from fixed to floating exchange rates was completed. Was canceled by the IMF and the official price of gold. The possibility of using national currencies as world money created the preconditions for the transition from an asymmetric (with the dollar as reserves) to a symmetric multicurrency system. The formation of such a system accelerated in connection with the formation of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and the introduction of a single European currency - the euro. In the development of the world financial market at the present stage, there has been a tendency towards the formation of currency blocs (zones) around the leading currencies. This is the European euro area, as well as the informal dollar block of countries that in their monetary policy are guided by the US dollar (Latin American countries). In the future - the emergence of a new currency zone in South-East Asia.

The history of the creation of the Bretton Woods monetary system

As you know, nothing happens just like that, for no reason. Likewise, the established historical, political and economic forces in the international arena. What are these reasons and how exactly the Bretton Woods monetary system was created, we will analyze in this section.

The patterns of development of the monetary system are determined by the reproductive criterion, reflect the main stages in the development of the national and world economy. This criterion manifests itself in the periodic inconsistency of the principles of the world monetary system with changes in the structure of the world economy, as well as in the balance of power between its main centers. In this regard, the crisis of the world monetary system periodically arises. This is an explosion of currency contradictions, a sharp disruption of its functioning, manifested in the inconsistency of the structural principles of the organization of the world currency mechanism with the changed conditions of production, world trade, and the balance of forces in the world. This concept arose with the crisis of the first world monetary system - gold monometallism. Periodic crises of the world monetary system occupy a relatively long historical period of time: the crisis of the gold coin standard lasted about ten years (1913-1922), the Genoese monetary system - 8 years (1929-1936), Bretton Woods - 10 years (1967- 1976).

In a crisis of the world monetary system, the operation of its structural principles is violated and currency contradictions are sharply exacerbated. Acute outbreaks and dramatic events associated with the currency crisis cannot last long without a threat to reproduction. Therefore, various means are used to smooth out the acute forms of the currency crisis and reform the world monetary system. The evolution of the world monetary system is determined by the development and needs of the national and world economy, changes in the balance of power in the world.

Genoese monetary system - the predecessor of the Bretton Woods

The Genoese monetary system was formulated in 1922 at the Genoa International Economic Conference and was based on the gold exchange standard. In other words, the basis of the system was gold and mottos, that is, the leading national currencies. These national currencies began to be used as international means of payment. Since the status of the reserve currency was not officially determined, the leadership was contested by the US dollar and the British pound sterling. Thus, the gold exchange standard was that individual national banknotes began to be exchanged not for gold, but for the currency of other countries, which formed 2 main ways of exchanging the national currency for gold:

Direct method (for currencies acting as mottos);

Indirect (for all other currencies).

The British pound sterling and the US dollar competed for leadership in the global foreign exchange market as reserve currencies. Exchange rates could fluctuate around monetary parity within gold points by the cost of sending gold, the equivalent of one unit of foreign currency, between the monetary centers of Great Britain and the United States. Attempts by Great Britain to restore the gold standard were unsuccessful: as a result of the overvaluation of the pound sterling, the balance of payments deficit increased. Great Britain was forced to abolish the convertibility of the pound into gold in 1931. This measure, against the background of the Great Depression in the late 1920s and early 1930s, became a manifestation of the global currency crisis, the way out of which countries saw in the devaluation of their currencies. The devaluation of the dollar by increasing the value of an ounce of gold from $ 20.65 to $ 35 in 1933 was used by the United States, which had a surplus of payments, as a measure to promote its exports and create additional jobs in export industries, and reduce unemployment. Against this background, countries, protecting themselves from foreign competition, were forced to start introducing high customs duties and import tariffs. The result of these measures was a reduction in foreign trade and international settlements. As a result, the Genoese monetary system lost its elasticity and stability. The exchange of banknotes for gold in the internal circulation of all countries was stopped, and only the external convertibility of currencies into gold was preserved by agreement of the central banks of the United States, Great Britain and France. Another shock to the global monetary system was the 1937 economic crisis, which triggered a new wave of currency depreciation. By the beginning of World War II, not a single stable currency remained.

Basic principles of functioning of the Genoese monetary system:

Gold retained the function of final monetary settlements between countries;

The American dollar became the reserve currency, which, along with gold, was recognized as a measure of the value of the currencies of different countries, as well as an international credit means of payment;

The dollar was exchanged for gold by the central banks and government agencies of other countries at the US Treasury at a fixed rate. Governments and individuals could purchase gold on the private market. The currency price of gold was formed on the basis of the official one;

The equalization of currencies to each other and their mutual exchange were carried out on the basis of official currency parities expressed in gold and dollars;

Each country had to maintain a stable exchange rate for its currency relative to any other currency;

A new element of the world monetary system was currency regulation, which was carried out in the form of an active monetary policy, international conferences and meetings.

Preserved gold parities. Currency regulation appeared, which was initially carried out within the framework of conferences and meetings. The gold exchange standard did not last long. World economic crisis 1929-1931 undermined its foundations, affected motto currencies, especially the dollar. It was at this time that currency blocs and zones began to take shape on the basis of the national monetary systems of the leading countries. A currency bloc is a grouping of countries economically, monetary and financially dependent on the power headed by the bloc, which dictates to them a unified policy in the field of international economic relations, uses them as a preferred market for their goods, a source of cheap raw materials and a profitable sphere of capital increase, the purpose of currency blocs is strengthening the competitive position of the leading country in the international arena. The following features are characteristic of currency blocks:

The rate of the dependent currencies is attached to the currency of the leading country;

International settlements of the countries included in the bloc are carried out in the currency of the leading country;

Foreign exchange reserves are held in the country led by the bloc;

Dependent currencies are secured by securities of government loans of the leading country.

The dollar, sterling and gold blocks were formed. Dollar was founded in 1933. It included the United States (leader), Canada, the countries of Central and South America, where American capital dominated. The Sterling Block was created in 1931 and included Great Britain, Hong Kong, Egypt, Iraq, Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and some other countries. The gold bloc, founded in 1933, included countries that sought to preserve the gold standard, namely: France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Poland. All these blocks disintegrated during the Second World War. During the war, currency restrictions were introduced by both belligerent and neutral countries. The frozen official exchange rates remained practically unchanged, although the purchasing power of money was constantly decreasing as a result of inflation. The role of gold as a world reserve and means of payment increased again, and military or strategic goods could only be purchased with gold. Accordingly, the exchange rate has lost its active role in economic relations. The war further deepened the crisis of the Genoese monetary system, while the development of the draft of a new monetary system began already during the war years by British and American specialists, as the states feared a repetition of the currency crises of the 1930s.

The experts working on the project sought to develop the principles of a monetary system capable of ensuring economic growth and limiting the negative socio-economic consequences of crises. As a result, a project by G. D. White (USA) and a project by J. M. Keynes (Great Britain) were prepared, which were characterized by the following general principles:

Free trade and capital movement;

Balanced payments, stable exchange rates;

Gold exchange standard;

The Genoese monetary system did not last long - only 22 years and already in 1944 gave way to Bretton Woods, which will be discussed below.

Impact of World War II on Economic Relations

During the Second World War, currency restrictions were introduced by both belligerent and neutral countries. The frozen official exchange rate remained almost unchanged during the war years, although commodity prices rose and the purchasing power of money fell as a result of inflation. The exchange rate has lost its active role in economic relations. This was due not only to currency restrictions, but also to the peculiarities of lending and financing foreign trade:

Taking into account the lessons of the inter-allied debts that arose as a result of the First World War and after it, the United States refused to provide loans and preferred military supplies under "Lend-Lease", i.e. for rent, in the amount of about $ 50 billion, including $ 30 billion in Great Britain and the countries of the British Commonwealth of Nations and $ 10 billion in the USSR. After the war, the United States determined the amount of compensation for the USSR, much higher than that of other countries;

The source of payment for the import of civilian goods was a long-term loan;

The currency of the debtor country was usually used as the payment currency without the right to convert it into gold and foreign currencies. In this way, Great Britain paid for the supply of raw materials and food from a number of countries, especially dependent ones. The result was the problem of sterling holdings (deposits in foreign banks) that reflected the UK's debt to other countries;

In war conditions, as always, the importance of gold as world money has increased. Military-strategic and scarce goods could be purchased only for this currency metal. Therefore, international settlements were partially carried out in gold. Before the introduction of Lend-Lease in 1943, Great Britain paid for deliveries of a number of goods from the United States in gold, which led to its pumping into the American Treasury. The United States paid for the supply of raw materials and foodstuffs from Latin American countries with gold, which was deposited with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and after the war was used by these countries to purchase American goods. The USSR also paid for imports of goods in gold.

Fascist Germany spent almost all of its gold reserves in preparation for war, which officially amounted to only 26 tons in September 1938 against 12 thousand tons in the USA and 3.6 thousand tons in Great Britain. Formally denying the role of gold as a currency metal, the German fascists seized 1,300 tons of the yellow metal in the central banks of the occupied countries. During the war years, Nazi Germany, in addition to outright plunder, used monetary and financial methods to plunder the occupied countries:

Issue of unsecured military occupation money, which formally paid for the supply of raw materials and food from these countries to Germany;

The overvalued mark (66% against the French franc, 50% against the Belgian franc, 42% against the Dutch guilder) allowed Germany to buy goods in these countries for next to nothing;

Foreign exchange clearing: Germany imported goods, recording the amount of debt in clearing accounts, which generated huge indebtedness (42 billion marks by the end of the war) against dependent countries.

The crisis of the world monetary system and the creation of the Bretton Woods system

The Second World War led to a deepening crisis of the Genoese monetary system. The development of a draft of a new world monetary system began during the war years (in April 1943), as countries feared shocks similar to the currency crisis after the First World War and in the 30s. Anglo-American experts working since 1941 rejected the idea of ​​a return to the gold standard from the outset. They sought to develop the principles of a new world monetary system capable of ensuring economic growth and limiting the negative socio-economic consequences of economic crises. The desire of the United States to consolidate the dominant position of the dollar in the world monetary system was reflected in the plan of G.D. White (Chief of the Currency Research Division of the US Treasury Department).

As a result of long discussions on the plans of G.D. White and J.M. Keynes (Great Britain) formally defeated the American project, although Keynesian ideas of interstate currency regulation were also used as the basis for the Bretton Woods system.

General principles are characteristic of both currency projects:

Free trade and capital movement;

Balanced balances of payments, stable exchange rates and the global monetary system as a whole;

Gold exchange standard;

Creation international organization for monitoring the functioning of the world monetary system, for mutual cooperation and covering the balance of payments deficit.

At the UN monetary and financial conference in Bretton Woods (USA) in 1944, the rules for organizing world trade, monetary, credit and financial relations were established and the third world monetary system was formalized. The Articles of Agreement (IMF Charter) adopted at the conference determined the basic principles of the Bretton Woods monetary system: in particular, a gold exchange standard was introduced, based on gold and two reserve currencies - the US dollar and the pound sterling. The Bretton Woods Agreement provided for four forms of using gold as the basis of the world monetary system:

Preserved gold parities of currencies and introduced their fixation in the IMF;

Gold continued to be used as an international means of payment and reserve;

Relying on its increased monetary and economic potential and gold reserves, the United States equated the dollar with gold in order to consolidate its status as the main reserve currency;

To this end, the US Treasury continued to exchange the dollar for gold to foreign central banks and government agencies at the official price set in 1934 based on the gold content of its currency ($ 35 per troy ounce, equal to 31.1035 g).

The introduction of mutual convertibility (convertibility) of currencies was envisaged. Currency restrictions were to be phased out and required the consent of the IMF. The exchange rate ratio of currencies and their convertibility began to be carried out on the basis of fixed currency parities expressed in dollars. Devaluation of over 10% was allowed only with the permission of the Fund. A regime of fixed exchange rates was established: the market exchange rate could deviate from parity within narrow limits (+/- 1% under the IMF Charter and +/- 0.75% under the European Monetary Agreement). To comply with the limits of currency fluctuations, central banks were required to intervene in dollars.

For the first time in history, the international monetary organizations IMF and the IBRD were created. The IMF provides loans in foreign currency to cover the balance of payments deficit in order to support unstable currencies, monitors the observance of the principles of the world monetary system by member countries, and ensures currency cooperation between countries. Under pressure from the United States, the dollar standard, a world monetary system based on the dominance of the dollar, was established within the Bretton Woods system. The dollar, the only currency convertible into gold, has become the base of currency parities, the predominant means of international settlement, foreign exchange intervention and reserve assets. Thus, the United States established monopoly currency hegemony, pushing back its longtime rival - Great Britain. The pound sterling, although it was also assigned the role of a reserve currency by virtue of historical tradition, has become extremely unstable. The United States used the status of the dollar as a reserve currency to cover its balance of payments deficit with the national currency. The specificity of the dollar standard within the framework of the Bretton Woods system was to preserve the link between the dollar and gold. Of the two ways to stabilize the exchange rate - the narrow limits of its fluctuations or the conversion of the dollar into gold - the United States preferred the second. Thus, they entrusted their partners with the task of maintaining fixed rates of their currencies against the dollar through foreign exchange intervention. As a result, the US pressure on foreign exchange markets increased.

The dominance of the United States in the Bretton Woods system was due to the new alignment of forces in the world economy. In 1949, the USA concentrated 54.6% of capitalist industrial production, 33% of exports, and almost 75% of its gold reserves. The share of Western European countries in industrial production fell from 38.3% in 1937 to 31% in 1948, and in the export of goods - from 34.5 to 28%. The gold reserves of these countries fell from $ 9 billion to $ 4 billion, which was 6 times less than that of the United States ($ 24.6 billion), and their size fluctuated sharply across countries. Great Britain, serving 40% of international trade with its currency, possessed only 4% of the official gold reserves of the capitalist world. The foreign economic expansion of the FRG monopolies was combined with the growth of the country's gold and foreign exchange reserves (from $ 28 million in 1951 to $ 2.6 billion in 1958). The purpose of overcoming the crisis in 1944 in Bretton Woods (USA) convened the International Monetary and Financial Conference, at which the Intergovernmental Agency under the United Nations was established to regulate monetary relations - the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In accordance with the charter of the IMF, the basic principles of the new monetary system were determined, which was called the Bretton Woods. In contrast to the gold standard, its basis is a permanent system of the gold and foreign exchange standard, which in its further development was transformed into a system of the gold-dollar standard. The Bretton Woods monetary system functioned until the mid-1970s and played an important role in deepening the international division of labor, internationalization of production, and intensive development of foreign economic relations.

The basic principles of the functioning of the Bretton Woods monetary system were reduced to these fundamental ones:

V new system preserved the role of gold as a general equivalent, means of payment and unit of account in international circulation. In the text of the Bretton Woods Agreement (Article IV, Section I of the IMF Statute) it was written: “The parities of the currencies of all member states must be expressed in gold, which acts as a common equivalent, as well as in US dollars for its gold content as of July 1, 1944. ". However, in fact, this provision of the currency agreement was not adhered to. Among the currencies of countries that were members of the IMF, only the US dollar retained external convertibility (for the central banks of other countries) into gold. This was its fundamental difference from all other currencies that did not have such convertibility. Due to the fact that the parities of almost all currencies were fixed in the IMF in US dollars, their connection with the monetary commodity was carried out according to the "gold - dollar - national currencies" system. In this association, the dollar acted as a sign of gold and a kind of world money;

One of the requirements of the Bretton Woods monetary system, like the gold standard system, was the observance of the principle of fixed exchange rates, which was essential for the development of foreign trade. Official exchange rates were established by determining their gold content (price scale) and, accordingly, were firmly fixed against the dollar. They could not be rejected by more than 1% in both directions without the corresponding consent of the IMF;

The dollar, operating in the gold standard mode, was equated to gold at a certain parity on the basis of fixing the market price of gold: the content of the dollar was equal to 0.888 g of gold; the price of one ounce (31.1 g) of gold is $ 35;

An important rule of the Bretton Woods system was the prohibition of the free (private) purchase and sale of gold. These transactions could be carried out only at the level of central banks on the basis of a fixed price of $ 35 per ounce. This regulation was aimed at ensuring appropriate stabilization of the monetary system.

So, this system is a system of strict exchange rates, functional regulation and control over the observance of which was carried out by the IMF. If this or that country lost the ability to keep the exchange rate of its currency against the dollar within the established fluctuation limits (± 1%), it could turn to the following actions:

Use a share of your gold and foreign exchange reserve to conduct stabilizing operations in the foreign exchange market;

Refer to targeted loans that were provided from the IMF special fund;

Devalue your own currency. A change in the value (scale of prices) of a monetary unit over 10% could be carried out only after the corresponding sanction of the IMF.

For a long period, the effectiveness of the functioning of the Bretton Woods system "gold - dollar - national currency" was ensured by a high level of stability and confidence in the dollar, which served as an international means of payment and reserve currency. This trust was based on the fact that, unlike all other currencies, the dollar retained anti-inflationary immunity in the foreign exchange (external) market, which was guaranteed by its convertibility for central banks into gold. This convertibility was ensured by the accumulation of a significant US share (over 70% in the first post-war years) of centralized gold reserves. In 1949, US centralized gold reserves were estimated at $ 24.6 billion, 3.15 times the total amount of dollars deposited in foreign banks. One should also take into account the extremely high share of the United States in world trade and capital exports, as well as the fact that the country's balance of payments is not deficit for a long time. Under these conditions, the dollar served as the reserve currency of the Bretton Woods system. The dollar was believed to be the same as gold, and even better than gold.

In the late 60s - early 70s, the situation changed significantly: the United States largely lost its competitive advantages in the world market, a balance of payments deficit arose, inflationary processes began to develop, and gold reserves sharply decreased. In 1971, their value was $ 11.1 billion. This amount was 6 times less than the dollar supply, which was in interstate circulation. A massive pursuit of gold as a more persistent monetary asset began, and a corresponding rejection of the dollar. A double price of gold was formed: the official price was $ 35 per ounce and the market price, which was several times higher than the official one.

In this situation, the United States has, in effect, completely lost its ability to exchange dollars for gold at a fixed price and thus maintain its function as an international reserve currency. Determining this, on August 15, 1971, President R. Nixon decided to end the convertibility of the dollar into gold. Departure from one of the defining principles of the Bretton Woods system meant its virtual collapse and a corresponding change in the forces in the world economy. In contrast to the monopoly of the United States, which was dominant in the first post-war decades, in the late 60s - early 70s three centers of world economic rivalry were formed - the USA, Western Europe and Japan. As a consequence, polycentrism in the actual constellation economic forces in the world economy entered into a disagreement with the monocentrism based on the monopoly position of the dollar in the field of international monetary relations. The crisis of the Bretton Woods system gave rise to many projects for its reform: from the creation of a collective reserve currency, the issuance of a world currency that would be backed by gold and commodities, to a return to the gold standard.

The goals of creation and principles of the Bretton Woods monetary system

The purposes of the creation of the Bretton Woods monetary system were:

Restoring extensive free trade;

Establishing a stable equilibrium in the international exchange system based on a system of fixed exchange rates;

Transfer to the disposal of states of resources to counter temporary difficulties in the external balance.

The Bretton Woods monetary system was based on the following principles:

Fixed exchange rates of the member countries' currencies to the leading currency;

The leading currency is fixed to gold;

Central banks maintain a stable exchange rate of their currency against the leading (within +/- 1%) currency through foreign exchange interventions;

Changes in exchange rates are carried out through devaluation and revaluation;

The organizational link of the system is the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development), which are designed to develop mutual currency cooperation between countries and help reduce the balance of payments deficit.

Venue of the UN Bretton Woods Finance Conference

During the most difficult period of wartime, the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, widely known as the Bretton Woods Conference, was held in Bretton Woods (New Hampshire, USA). The conference was held in a comfortable Mount Washington hotel from July 1 to July 22, 1944. The conference was attended by 730 delegates from 44 states, members of the anti-Hitler coalition. The purpose of the conference was to regulate international monetary and financial relations after the end of World War II, and the result was the creation of a new world monetary system (called the Bretton Woods and replacing the outdated by that time Genoa) and two international institutions - the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD or World Bank).

The 1944 Bretton Woods Conference was attended by 44 states:

Australia;

Belgium;

Bolivia;

Brazil;

Great Britain - the delegation was led by the British economist, Lord John Maynard Keynes (1st Baron CB Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes; June 5, 1883, Cambridge - April 21, 1946, Tilton estate, Sussex; English economist, the founder of Keynesian direction in economic theory. The economic trend, which emerged under the influence of the ideas of John Maynard Keynes, later became known as Keynesianism. It is considered one of the founders of macroeconomics as an independent science. In addition, Keynes created the original theory of probability, not related to the axioms of Laplace, von Mises or Kolmogorov, based on the assumption that probability is a logical rather than a numerical ratio);

Venezuela;

Guatemala;

Honduras;

Dominican Republic;

Iceland;

China - the delegation was led by the statesman of China, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (English Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese trad. Chinese politician who led the Kuomintang in 1925 after the death of Sun Yat-sen; President of the Republic of China, Marshal and Generalissimo);

Colombia;

Costa Rica;

Liberia;

Luxembourg;

Mexico - led by Eduard Suarez delegation;

Netherlands;

Nicaragua;

Norway;

New Zealand;

Paraguay;

Salvador;

United States of America - the delegation was led by the head of the Department of Currency Research of the US Treasury Department Harry Dexter White (English Harry Dexter White; October 9, 1892 - August 16, 1948; American economist, spokesman for the US Treasury Department at the Bretton Woods Conference. In particular, White was the author of the project for the creation of the International Monetary Fund a week after Pearl Harbor, and also participated in the creation The World Bank- the main institutions of the Washington Consensus. White testified and defended his reputation before the Commission of Inquiry on Un-American Activities in August 1948. Three days after testifying, White died of a heart attack at a summer home in Fitz William, New Hampshire. Several sources of information, in particular archival documents from the FBI and the USSR, indicate that he passed secret data to the Soviet Union);

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - headed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade Mikhail Stepanov;

Uruguay;

Philippines;

France - the delegation was led by a center-left politician, Deputy Minister of Finance Pierre Mendès France; January 11, 1907, Paris - October 18, 1982, Paris; French center-left politician, held important government posts in the Third and the Fourth Republic. From a Judeo-Portuguese (Sephardic) family. In 1932-1940 - Member of the National Assembly, in 1938 - Deputy Minister of Finance in the government of Leon Blum. At the beginning of World War II, Mendes-France voluntarily joined the French Air Force, and from 1942 (after two escapes - from German captivity, and then from prison in Morocco) served as a military pilot in the aviation of the “Fighting France.” As a member of the radical party, Pierre Mendes-France became the leader of the cabinet in 1954. He made peace, graduated from the Indo-Chinese war and began the process of transferring independence to Morocco and Tunisia.Pierre Mendes-France was the leader of the left wing of the radical party, opposed by the conservative It was led by Edgar Faure. In 1959, he left this party, then moving to the United Socialist Party);

Czechoslovakia;

Yugoslavia;

Union of South Africa;

Ecuador;

Ethiopia.

The conference was chaired by the US Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau (eng. Henry Morgenthau; American statesman. Born in New York, USA. Treasury Secretary from 1934 to 1945. Known as the author of the Morgenthau plan, proposed by the US in 1944 to transform the post-war Germany in a number of small, industrially and militarily weakened states);

The problems of the Bretton Woods monetary system

Devaluation of Western European currencies... The economic superiority of the United States and the weakness of its competitors led to the dominant position of the dollar, which was in general demand. The dollar famine also served as a pillar of dollar hegemony - an acute shortage of dollars caused by a deficit in the balance of payments, especially in settlements with the United States, and a lack of foreign exchange reserves. It reflected in a concentrated form the difficult monetary and economic situation of the countries of Western Europe and Japan, their dependence on the United States, dollar hegemony. The deficit of balances of payments, the depletion of official gold and foreign exchange reserves, and the "dollar famine" led to increased currency restrictions in most countries, except for the USA, Canada, and Switzerland. Currency convertibility was limited. The import and export of currency without the permission of the currency control authorities were prohibited. The official exchange rate was artificial. Many countries in Latin America and Western Europe have practiced a plurality of exchange rates - the differentiation of exchange rate ratios by types of transactions, commodity groups and regions.

Due to the instability of the economy, the balance of payments crisis, and increased inflation, the rates of Western European currencies against the dollar decreased: the Italian lira by 33 times, the French franc by 20 times, the Finnish mark by 7 times, the Austrian schilling by 5 times, and the Turkish lira by 2 times. , pounds sterling by 80% for 1938-1958. There were "exchange rate distortions" - a mismatch between the market and official rates, which was the reason for numerous devaluations. Devaluation - the official depreciation of paper money in relation to gold (silver or foreign currency) or a decrease in the gold content of a monetary unit, and sometimes accompanied by the exchange of old banknotes for new ones. Among them, a special place is occupied by the massive devaluation of currencies in 1949, which had a number of features. This depreciation was a manifestation of a local currency crisis that arose under the influence of the global economic crisis, which in 1948-1949. hit mainly the United States and Canada and painfully affected the war-torn economies of Western Europe.

The devaluation of 1949 was carried out to a certain extent under pressure from the United States, which used the rise in the dollar exchange rate to encourage the export of their capital, to buy up cheap goods and enterprises in Western European countries and their colonies. With the revaluation (a process opposite to the devaluation) of the dollar, the dollar debt of Western European countries increased, which increased their dependence on the United States. The appreciation of the dollar did not affect US exports, which had a monopoly on world markets at that time. The national currencies were depreciated directly against the dollar, since, in accordance with the Bretton Woods agreement, fixed exchange rates were established against the American currency, and some currencies did not have gold parities. The devaluation was carried out under the conditions of currency restrictions.

Devaluation was massive; it covered the currencies of 37 countries, which accounted for 60-70% of world capitalist trade. Among them are Great Britain, the countries of the British Commonwealth, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, West Germany, Japan. Only the United States has retained the gold content of the dollar, established during the 1934 devaluation, although its domestic purchasing power has fallen by half compared with the pre-war period. The currency depreciation ranged from 12% (Belgian franc) to 30.5% (currencies of Great Britain, other countries of the sterling zone, the Netherlands, Sweden, etc.). The depreciation of currencies caused a rise in the cost of imports and an additional rise in prices. As a result of the 1949 devaluation, wholesale prices rose in September 1950 in Austria by 30%, in Great Britain and Finland by 19%, and in France by 14%. The inevitable consequence of devaluations was a decline in living standards.

The United States used the principles of the Bretton Woods system (the status of the dollar as a reserve currency, fixed parities and exchange rates, the conversion of the dollar into gold, the understated official price of gold) to strengthen its position in the world. The countries of Western Europe and Japan were interested in undervaluing their currencies in order to encourage exports and rebuild their ruined economies. Consequently, the Bretton Woods system has boosted world trade and production for a quarter of a century. However, the post-war monetary system did not provide equal rights to all its participants and allowed the United States to influence monetary policy countries of Western Europe, Japan and other members of the IMF. The unequal monetary mechanism helped to strengthen the position of the United States in the world to the detriment of other countries and international cooperation. The contradictions of the Bretton Woods system gradually shattered it.

From Americanocentrism to Monetary Polycentrism. Economic, energy, commodity crises destabilized the Bretton Woods system in the 60s. The changing balance of power on the world stage has undermined its structural principles. Since the end of the 60s, the economic, financial, monetary, and technological superiority of the United States over its competitors has gradually weakened. Western Europe and Japan, having strengthened their monetary and economic potential, began to crowd out the American partner. In 1984, the Common Market countries accounted for 36.0% of industrial production in the OECD countries (USA - 34.3%), 33.7% of exports (USA - 12.7%). The share of the United States in gold reserves decreased from 75% in 1949 to 23%. At the same time, the share of EEC countries in gold reserves increased to 38%, in foreign exchange - up to 53% (USA - 10.8%). The dollar is gradually losing its monopoly position in currency relations. The FRG mark, Swiss franc, other Western European currencies and the Japanese yen compete with it in foreign exchange markets and are used as an international means of payment and reserve. If the share of the dollar in official foreign exchange reserves gradually decreased (from 84.5 to 73.1% in 1973-1980), then the share of the FRG mark (from 6.7 to 14%), the Japanese yen (from 0 to 3 , 7%), Swiss franc(from 1.4 to 4.1%). The economic and monetary dependence of the countries of Western Europe on the United States, which was characteristic of the first post-war years, has disappeared. With the formation of three centers of partnership and rivalry, a new center of monetary power has emerged in the form of the EEC, rivaling the United States and Japan.

From "dollar hunger" to "dollar satiety." Since the US uses the dollar to close its balance of payments deficit, this has led to a huge increase in its short-term external debt in the form of foreign bank dollar savings. The "dollar hunger" was replaced by "dollar satiety." The surplus of dollars in the form of an avalanche of "hot" money periodically fell on one or the other country, causing currency shocks and flight from the dollar.

During the Second World War and after its end, currency zones were formed: sterling and dollar based on the corresponding pre-war currency blocks, the zone of the French franc, the Portuguese escudo, the Spanish peseta, and the Dutch guilder. While retaining the main features of currency blocs, currency zones reflected new phenomena associated with the strengthening of state regulation of monetary, financial and trade relations between their participants:

Interstate agreements have acquired an important role in the design and functioning of currency zones, especially the French franc zone. For example, the Monetary Committee of the Franc zone (a centralized governing body) coordinates and directs the monetary and economic policy of this group. Monetary policy of the sterling area was developed and coordinated by the Treasury and the Bank of England;

Unlike currency blocs, the internal mechanism of currency zones was characterized by a unified monetary and financial regime, a unified system of currency restrictions, a centralized pool of gold and foreign exchange reserves that were stored in the hegemonic country, and a preferential regime for currency settlements within the group. The extension of the same exchange control to all countries participating in the currency area gave it an official character;

International economic agreements of the members of the group were usually concluded by the country that led the zone. The mechanism of currency zones was directed against the expansion of foreign capital. With the crisis of the colonial system, centrifugal tendencies within the currency zones intensified, which subsequently led to the disintegration of the sterling, dollar and other zones and significant changes in the monetary and financial mechanism of the French franc zone, which remained in a modified form.

Bretton Woods crisis

The causes of the crisis in the Bretton Woods system can be divided into two separate groups - fundamental and additional causes. Let's consider them in more detail.

This system could exist only as long as the US gold reserves could provide the conversion of foreign dollars into gold. The collapse of the dollar was predetermined. The US gold reserves were literally melting before our eyes: at times, 3 tons a day. And this, again, despite all the imaginable and inconceivable measures that the United States took to stop the leakage of gold, to make sure that the dollar was “reversible until they demand its reversibility” (Charles de Gaulle). The possibilities for exchanging dollars for gold were in every possible way limited: it could only be carried out on official level and only in one place - the US Treasury. But the numbers speak for themselves: from 1949 to 1970, US gold reserves fell from 21,800 to 9,838.2 tons - more than half.

The last point in this "flight from the dollar" was put by General de Gaulle, not confining himself only to the declaration of the need to eliminate the priority of the dollar. From words, he moved on to deeds, presenting the US for the exchange of 1.5 billion US dollars. A scandal broke out. The United States began to put pressure on France as a NATO partner. And then General de Gaulle went even further, announcing the withdrawal of France from NATO, the elimination of all 189 NATO bases on French territory and the withdrawal of 35,000 NATO soldiers. To top it all off, during his official visit to the United States, he presented $ 750 million in exchange for gold. And the United States was forced to make this exchange at a fixed rate, since all the necessary formalities were met.

Of course, such a scale of "intervention" could not "bring down the dollar," but the blow was struck at the most vulnerable point - the "Achilles' heel" of the dollar. General de Gaulle created a precedent that is most dangerous for the United States. Suffice it to say that from 1965 to 1967 alone, the United States was forced to exchange its dollars for 3,000 tons of pure gold. Following France, the FRG presented dollars for gold. But the United States soon adopted equally unprecedented protective measures, in unilaterally abandoning all of its earlier international obligations on the gold backing of the dollar. In the early 70s, the redistribution of gold reserves in favor of Europe finally took place, and more and more cash and non-cash US dollars participated in the international circulation. There were significant problems with international liquidity, as gold production was small compared to the growth in international trade. Confidence in the dollar as a reserve currency was further diminished by the huge US balance of payments deficit. New financial centers (Western Europe, Japan) were formed, and their national currencies began to be gradually used as reserve ones. This led to the loss of the United States of its absolute dominant position in the financial world.

The problems of this system were clearly formulated in the Triffin's dilemma (paradox): the emission of the key currency must correspond to the gold reserves of the issuing country. Excessive emission, not backed by gold reserves, can undermine the convertibility of the key currency to gold, which will cause a crisis of confidence in it. But the key currency must be issued in quantities sufficient to provide an increase in the international money supply to service the growing number of international transactions. Therefore, its issue should take place regardless of the size of the limited gold reserves of the issuing country. During the development of the system for partial withdrawal This controversy has been proposed to use an artificial backup means - Special Drawing Rights. This mechanism still works today.

Additional Causes of the Bretton Woods Monetary System Crisis

Additional reasons include the following factors:

Instability in the economy. The onset of the currency crisis in 1967 coincided with a slowdown in economic growth;

Rising inflation negatively affected the competitiveness of firms. Since different inflation rates in different countries influenced the dynamics of the exchange rate in different ways, this created conditions for “exchange rate distortions”, which encouraged speculative movements of “hot” money;

In the 1970s, speculation exacerbated the currency crisis. The surplus of dollars in the form of a spontaneous avalanche of "hot" money periodically fell on one or another country, causing currency shocks and flight from one currency to another;

Instability of national balances of payments. Chronic deficits in some countries (especially the United States, Great Britain) and surplus in others (Germany, Japan) increased currency fluctuations;

The discrepancy between the principles of the Bretton Woods system and the change in the balance of power in the world arena. The monetary system based on national currencies came into conflict with the internationalization of the world economy. This contradiction intensified as the economic positions of the United States and Great Britain weakened, which repaid the deficit of their balance of payments by issuing national currencies, using their status as reserve currencies. This was contrary to the interests of other countries;

The role of transnational corporations (TNCs) in the foreign exchange sphere: TNCs have gigantic short-term assets in different currencies, which can significantly exceed the reserves of the central banks of countries where corporations operate and, thus, TNCs can elude national control. When trying to avoid losses or make profits, TNCs participate in currency speculation, giving them a gigantic scale.

Thus, it gradually became necessary to revise the foundations of the existing monetary system. Its structural principles, established in 1944, ceased to correspond real situation cases. The essence of the crisis of the Bretton Woods system lies in the contradiction between the international character of international economic relations and the use for this of national currencies (mainly the US dollar), which are subject to depreciation.

Factors of the Bretton Woods Monetary System Crisis

Since the late 1960s, the Bretton Woods monetary system has been in crisis. Its structural principles, established in 1944, have ceased to correspond to the conditions of production, world trade and the changed balance of power in the world. The essence of the crisis in the Bretton Woods system lies in the contradiction between the international nature of the IEE and the use for their implementation of national currencies subject to depreciation (mainly the dollar). The reasons for the crisis in the Bretton Woods monetary system can be represented as a chain of interdependent factors: the economy by the beginning of the currency crisis in 1967, which coincided with a slowdown in economic growth, was extremely unstable and contradictory, plus a global cyclical crisis that gripped the economy of the West in 1969-1970, 1974- 1975, 1979-1983

The rise in inflation negatively affected world prices and the competitiveness of firms, encouraging speculative movements of "hot" money. Different rates of inflation in different countries influenced the dynamics of the exchange rate, and the decrease in the purchasing power of money created conditions for “exchange rate distortions”. Instability of balance of payments. Chronic balance sheet deficit of some countries (especially Great Britain, USA) and surplus of others (Germany, Japan) intensified sharp fluctuations in exchange rates, respectively, down and up. The discrepancy between the principles of the Bretton Woods system and the changed balance of power in the world arena. The monetary system based on the international use of national currencies subject to depreciation - the dollar and partly the pound sterling - came into conflict with the internationalization of the world economy. This contradiction between the Bretton Woods system intensified as the economic positions of the United States and Great Britain weakened, which repaid the deficit of their balances of payments with national currencies, abusing their status as reserve currencies. As a result, the stability of the reserve currencies was undermined.

The right of the holders of dollar holdings to exchange them for gold came into conflict with the ability of the United States to fulfill this obligation. Their external short-term debt increased 8.5 times over 1949-1971, while official gold reserves fell 2.4 times. The consequence of the US policy of “no tears deficit” was to undermine confidence in the dollar. Undervalued in the interests of the United States, the official price of gold, which served as the basis for gold and currency parities, began to deviate sharply from the market price. Interstate regulation of this price turned out to be powerless. As a result, artificial gold parities lost their meaning. This contradiction was compounded by the stubborn refusal of the United States to devalue its currency until 1971. The regime of fixed parities and exchange rates exacerbated the “exchange rate distortions”. In accordance with the Bretton Woods Agreement, central banks were forced to carry out foreign exchange intervention using the dollar, even to the detriment of national interests. Thus, the United States shifted the responsibility of maintaining the dollar exchange rate to other countries, which exacerbated interstate contradictions. Since the IMF Charter allowed only one-time devaluations and revaluations, in anticipation of them the movement of "hot" money intensified, a speculative game to depreciate the rate of weak currencies and to increase the rate of strong currencies. Interstate foreign exchange regulation through the IMF turned out to be almost ineffectual. His loans were insufficient to cover even temporary balance of payments deficits and to support currencies.

The principle of American-centrism, on which the Bretton Woods system was based, ceased to correspond to the new alignment of forces with the emergence of three world centers: the USA - Western Europe - Japan. The use by the United States of the status of the dollar as a reserve currency for expanding its foreign economic and military-political expansion, exporting inflation has intensified interstate disagreements and contradicted the interests of developing countries. Activation of the Eurodollar market. As the United States covers its balance of payments deficit with its national currency, part of the dollars moves to foreign banks, contributing to the development of the Eurodollar market. This colossal market for dollars "without a homeland" (750 billion dollars, or 80% of the European market, in 1981 against 2 billion dollars in 1960) played a double role in the development of the crisis of the Bretton Woods system. At first, he supported the position of the American currency, absorbing the surplus of dollars, but in the 70s Eurodollar operations, accelerating the spontaneous movement of "hot" money between countries, exacerbated the currency crisis. The disorganizing role of transnational corporations (TNCs) in the foreign exchange sphere: TNCs have gigantic short-term assets in different currencies that are more than double the foreign exchange reserves of central banks, elude national control, and engage in currency speculation in pursuit of profits, giving it grandiose scope. In addition to general reasons, there were specific ones inherent in individual stages of the development of the crisis of the Bretton Woods system.

Forms of manifestation of the crisis of the Bretton Woods monetary system:

- "currency fever" - the movement of "hot" money, the massive sale of unstable currencies in anticipation of their devaluation and the purchase of currencies - candidates for revaluation;

- "gold rush" - flight from unstable currencies to gold and a periodic increase in its price;

Panic on stock exchanges and the fall in securities prices in anticipation of changes in the exchange rate;

Aggravation of the problem of international currency liquidity, especially its quality;

Massive currency devaluations and revaluations (official and unofficial);

Active foreign exchange intervention by central banks, including collective;

Sharp fluctuations in official gold and foreign exchange reserves;

Violation of the structural principles of the Bretton Woods system;

Activation of national and interstate currency regulation; strengthening of two trends in international economic and monetary relations - cooperation and contradictions, which periodically develop into trade and currency wars.

Stages of development of the crisis of the Bretton Woods monetary system

The currency crisis developed in waves, hitting one or the other country at different times and with different strengths. The development of the crisis of the Bretton Woods monetary system can be conditionally divided into several stages.

Devaluation of the pound sterling in November 1967

Due to the deterioration of the country's monetary and economic situation, on November 18, 1967, the gold content and the pound sterling were depreciated by 14.3%. Following the UK, 25 countries, mainly its trading partners, have devalued their currencies in varying proportions.

The collapse of the "gold block" and the change in the gold market

The owners of dollars began to sell them for gold. The volume of transactions in the London gold market increased from its usual value of 5-6 tons per day to 65-200 tons (November 22-23, 1967), and the price of gold rose to $ 41 at the official price of $ 35 per ounce. The outbursts of the gold rush led to the disintegration of the gold pool in March 1968 and the formation of a double gold market.

Devaluation of the French franc in August 1969

The currency crisis was detonated by currency speculation - a game for the depreciation of the franc and the increase in the exchange rate of the FRG mark in anticipation of its revaluation. The attack of the mark on the franc was accompanied by political pressure from Bonn on Paris and an outflow of capital from France, mainly in the FRG, which caused a reduction in the country's official gold and foreign exchange reserves (from $ 6.6 billion in May 1968 to $ 2.6 billion in August 1969). Despite the currency intervention of the Bank of France, the franc fell to the bottom of the acceptable limit.

The stormy political events in France, the resignation of Charles de Gaulle, and the FRG's refusal to revalue the mark increased the pressure on the franc. On August 8, 1969, the gold content and the franc were depreciated by 11.1% (foreign exchange rates against the franc rose by 12.5%). At the same time, the currencies of 13 countries of the African continent and Madagascar were devalued.

Revaluation of the FRG mark in October 1969

On October 24, 1969, the exchange rate of the mark was raised by 9.3% (from 4 to 3.66 marks per dollar) and the floating exchange rate regime was canceled. The revaluation was a concession from the FRG to international financial capital: it helped to improve the balance of payments of its partners, since their currencies were actually devalued. The outflow of "hot" money from the FRG replenished the foreign exchange reserves of these countries. For 20 months, there was a relative calm in the foreign exchange markets, but the causes of the currency crisis were not eliminated.

The crisis of the Bretton Woods system reached its climax in the spring and summer of 1971, with the main reserve currency at its epicenter. The dollar crisis coincided with a prolonged depression in the United States after the 1969-1970 economic crisis. Under the influence of inflation, the purchasing power of the dollar fell by 2/3 in mid-1971 compared with 1934, when its gold parity was established. The aggregate current account deficit in the United States amounted to $ 71.7 billion for 1949-1971. The country's short-term external debt increased from $ 7.6 billion in 1949 to $ 64.3 billion in 1971, 6.3 times exceeding the official gold reserve, which declined over this period from $ 24.6 billion to $ 10.2 billion

The crisis of the American currency was expressed in its massive sale for gold and stable currencies, and a fall in the exchange rate. Uncontrollably wandering Eurodollars flooded the foreign exchange markets of Western Europe and Japan. The central banks of these countries were forced to buy them in order to maintain the exchange rates of their currencies within the limits established by the IMF. The dollar crisis caused a political form of action by countries (especially France) against the privilege of the United States, which covered the deficit of the balance of payments with the national currency. France exchanged $ 3.5 billion in the US Treasury for gold in 1967-1969. Since the late 1960s, the conversion of the dollar into gold has become a fiction: in 1970, the $ 50 billion holdings of non-residents were opposed by only $ 11 billion of official gold reserves. The United States took a number of measures to save the Bretton Woods system in the 60s.

Attraction of foreign exchange resources from other countries. Dollar balances have been partially converted into direct loans. Swap agreements were concluded ($ 2.3 billion in 1965, $ 11.3 billion in 1970) between the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and a number of foreign central banks. Ruza short-term booms were deployed in Western European countries.

Collective defense of the dollar. Under US pressure, the central banks of most countries refrained from exchanging their dollar reserves for gold in the US treasury. The IMF invested some of its gold reserves in dollars contrary to the Charter. Leading central banks created a gold pool (1962) to support the price of gold, and after its collapse, on March 17, 1968, they introduced a double gold market. Doubling of the IMF's capital (to $ 28 billion) and a general agreement between the 10 member countries of the Fund and Switzerland on loans to the Fund ($ 6 billion), issuing SDRs in 1970 to cover the balance of payments deficit.

The United States stubbornly resisted the imminent devaluation of the dollar and insisted on the revaluation of the currencies of its trading partners. In May 1971, the revaluation of the Swiss franc and the Austrian schilling was carried out, the floating exchange rates of the FRG and the Netherlands were introduced, which led to an actual depreciation of the dollar by 6-8%. Latent devaluation suited the United States, since it did not affect the prestige of the reserve currency as destructively as the official one. To break the resistance of trade rivals, the United States adopted a policy of protectionism. On August 15, 1971, emergency measures were announced to save the dollar: the exchange of dollars for gold for foreign central banks (the "gold embargo") was stopped, and an additional 10% import duty was introduced. The United States embarked on a trade and currency war. The influx of dollars into Western Europe and Japan triggered a massive transition to floating exchange rates and thus a speculative attack by their stronger currencies on the dollar. France introduced a dual currency market, following the example of Belgium, where it operated since 1952. Western European countries began to openly oppose the dollar's privileged position in the world monetary system.

But the US has not pledged to restore the convertibility of the dollar into gold and participate in foreign exchange intervention. Thus, they retained the privileged status of the dollar, which is now not materially supported. The law on the devaluation of the dollar was signed by President R. Nixon on April 3 and approved by Congress on April 26, 1972. The increase in the price of gold was legalized after the registration of the new dollar parity with the IMF and the notification of the member countries on May 8, 1972. It should be noted that the time lag between the period making a decision to change the official exchange rate and its legal registration was of practical importance for international settlements, since when implementing protective clauses, a normative act was taken into account. The devaluation of the dollar triggered a chain reaction: at the end of 1971, 96 out of 118 IMF member countries set a new exchange rate against the dollar, with 50 currencies appreciating to varying degrees. Taking into account the different degrees of appreciation of the exchange rates of other countries and their share in US foreign trade, the weighted average value of the dollar devaluation was 10-12%.

The Washington Agreement temporarily smoothed out the contradictions, but did not eliminate them. In the summer of 1972, a floating rate of the pound sterling was introduced, which meant its actual devaluation by 6-8%. This complicated relations between Great Britain and the EEC, as it violated the agreement of the countries of the "Common Market" (of April 24, 1972) to narrow the limits of fluctuations in exchange rates to +/- 1.125%. Great Britain was forced to compensate the owners of sterling auars and introduce a dollar, and since April 1974 - a multi-currency clause as a guarantee of the preservation of their value. Foreign exchange restrictions were tightened to curb capital flight abroad. The pound sterling has lost its reserve currency status.

In February-March 1973, the currency crisis hit the dollar again. The impetus was the instability of the Italian lira, which led to the introduction in Italy of a dual currency market (from January 22, 1973 to March 22, 1974), following the example of Belgium and France. The gold rush and the rise in the market price for gold have exposed the dollar's weakness once again. However, unlike in 1971, the United States failed to achieve revaluation of the currencies of Western Europe and Japan. On February 12, 1973, the dollar was again devalued by 10% and the official gold price was increased by 11.1% (from $ 38 to $ 42.22 per ounce). The massive sale of dollars led to the closure of the leading foreign exchange markets (March 2-19). The new consensus - the transition to floating exchange rates since March 1973 - corrected the "exchange rate distortions" and relieved the tension in the foreign exchange markets. Six countries of the "Common Market" canceled the external limits of the agreed fluctuations in the exchange rates of their currencies ("tunnel") against the dollar and other currencies. The detachment of the “European currency snake” from the dollar led to the emergence of a kind of currency zone headed by the FRG mark. This indicated the formation of a Western European zone of monetary stability as opposed to the unstable dollar, which accelerated the collapse of the Bretton Woods system.

Use of foreign loans and borrowings from the IMF to support currencies;

Fighting two trends in international relations- cooperation and separate actions (up to trade and currency "wars").

Interrelation of crises 1967-1973, 1973 and 1974-1975

The rise in oil prices at the end of 1973 led to an increase in the current account deficit in industrialized countries. The exchange rates of the countries of Western Europe and Japan fell sharply. There was a temporary increase in the dollar exchange rate, as the United States was better provided with energy resources than its competitors, and the positive effect of its two devaluations on the country's balance of payments appeared, although not immediately. The currency crisis intertwined with the world economic crisis in 1974-1975, which increased the fluctuation of exchange rates (up to 20% per year at the end of the 70s). The dollar fell during the 70s, except for short periods of its rise. Covering the current account deficit of the balance of payments with the national currency, the United States helped to pump dollars into international circulation (8.9 billion in 1950, 292.5 billion in 1980). As a result, other countries became "unwilling creditors" in relation to the United States. In the XIX century. a similar monetary and financial method was used by England, taking advantage of the privileged position of the pound sterling in international monetary relations.

Features and consequences of the crisis of the Bretton Woods monetary system

Between the currency crises of 1929-1933 and 1967-1976. there is a certain similarity. These structural crises of the world monetary system affected all countries, became protracted and led to a violation of its principles. However, the crisis of the Bretton Woods system has a number of peculiarities.

Interweaving of cyclical and ad hoc currency crises. The crisis of the Bretton Woods monetary system was combined not only with world economic crises, but also with periodic revival and economic recovery.

TNCs concentrated 40% of industrial production, 60% of foreign trade, 80% of the developed technology of the West. Large foreign exchange assets and the scale of Euro-currency, especially Euro-dollar, operations of TNCs gave the crisis of the Bretton Woods system enormous scope and depth.

Disorganizing role of the USA. Using the privileged position of the dollar as a reserve currency to cover the deficit of its balance of payments, the United States flooded the countries of Western Europe and Japan with dollars, causing disruptions in their economies, increased inflation, instability of currencies, which deepened interstate conflicts.

The emergence of three centers of power. The structural principles of the Bretton Woods system, established during the period of undivided US domination, ceased to correspond to the new alignment of forces in the world. Western European countries, especially the EU, are creating their own center of monetary power to counterbalance the hegemony of the dollar, and Japan uses the yen as a reserve currency in the Asian region. The wave-like development of the currency crisis, as evidenced by the stages of its development discussed above. Massive currency devaluations and periodic revaluation of individual currencies. Comparison of the devaluations of the 60-70s and 1949 reveals their differences in the following indicators:

Scale: 1967-1973 repeated devaluations covered hundreds of currencies (against 37 in 1949), including twice the dollar - a reserve currency;

Size: in the 60s and 70s, the size of devaluations (on average 8-15%) was significantly less than in 1949 (up to 30.5%) and after the First World War (up to 80%). The prevalence of small devaluations without a safety margin is due to the fear of countries to cause a chain reaction in connection with the increased internationalization of economic ties;

Duration: in the 60s and 70s, devaluations lasted for a number of years, as in the 30s, and in 1949 this event was held almost simultaneously in 37 countries;

Procedure: devaluations are carried out not only legally, but also in fact in connection with revaluation in conditions of floating exchange rates.

And in 1949, during the post-war devastation, the question of revaluation was not even raised and the regime of fixed exchange rates prevailed. The structural nature of the crisis of the world monetary system. With the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, its structural principles were canceled: the exchange of dollars for gold was stopped, the official price of gold and gold parities were canceled, interstate payments in gold were stopped, a floating exchange rate regime was introduced, the dollar and pound sterling officially lost the status of reserve currencies. For this role, the FRG mark and the Japanese yen began to be nominated. They began to use the original forms of world credit money - SDR, ECU. The impact of government foreign exchange regulation. On the one hand, it contributes to the aggravation of contradictions in the currency sphere; on the other, regulation at the national and interstate levels in order to mitigate the effects of the currency crisis and seek a way out of it through currency reform.

The currency crisis, disorganizing the economy, hampering foreign trade, increasing the instability of currencies, generates severe socio-economic consequences. This is manifested in an increase in unemployment, a freeze on wages, and an increase in the cost of living. The revaluation is accompanied by a decrease in employment in export industries, and devaluation, increasing the cost of imports, contributes to the rise in prices in the country. The centrifugal trend, reflecting interstate divisions, is opposed by the trend towards monetary cooperation.

Key dates of the development of the crisis of the Bretton Woods monetary system

March 17, 1968 A double gold market has been established. The price of gold in private markets is set freely in accordance with supply and demand. According to official transactions for the central banks of the countries, the dollar is still convertible into gold at the official rate of $ 35 per troy ounce.

August 15, 1971. US President Richard Nixon announced a temporary ban on converting the dollar into gold at the official exchange rate for central banks.

December 17, 1971. Devaluation of the dollar against gold by 7.89%. The official price of gold increased from 35 to 38 dollars per 1 troy ounce without resuming the exchange of dollars for gold at this rate.

March 16, 1973. The Jamaican International Conference subordinated exchange rates to the laws of the market. Since that time, exchange rates have not been fixed, but change under the influence of supply and demand. The system of fixed exchange rates ceased to exist.

January 8, 1976 After a transitional period, during which countries could try different models of the monetary system, at the meeting of the ministers of the IMF member countries in Kingston, Jamaica (Jamaica Conference), a new agreement was adopted on the structure of the international monetary system, which had the form of amendments to the IMF charter. A model of free mutual conversions was formed, which became characterized by fluctuations in exchange rates. The Jamaican monetary system operates in the world to this day (2011), although in the light of the global crisis of 2008-2009, consultations began on the principles of a new world monetary system (G20 Anti-Crisis Summit, London G-20 Summit).

Sources and links

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newreferat.com - abstracts, term papers and theses

wikiznanie.ru - the universal electronic encyclopedia Wikiznowledge

rbatrans.ru - information portal

re-beat.narod.ru - site dedicated to world currency systems

kotenik.wordpress.com - Nikolai Kotev's blog about external events of the 20th century

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Purpose of creation

1. Recovery and expansion of international trade.
2. Providing resources at the disposal of states to counter temporary difficulties in the foreign trade balance.

Effects

1. Dollarization of the economies of a number of countries, which led to the exit of the money supply from under national control, and its transfer under the control of the Federal Reserve System.

Principles

• The price of gold was firmly fixed at $ 35 per troy ounce;
• Fixed exchange rates for the currencies of the participating countries against the key currency;
• Central banks maintain a stable exchange rate of the national currency against the key currency (+/- 1%) through foreign exchange intervention;
• Changes in exchange rates are allowed through revaluation or devaluation;
• The organizational links of the system are the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). The IMF provides loans in foreign currency to cover the deficit of balances of payments and support unstable currencies, monitors compliance with the principles of the currency systems of the member countries, and ensures currency cooperation.

A firm price was set for gold: $ 35 per troy ounce. As a result, the United States gained currency hegemony, pushing back its weakened competitor - Great Britain. In fact, this led to the emergence Dollar standard international monetary system based on the dominance of the dollar. More precisely talking about Gold dollar standard... In the middle of the 20th century, the United States owned 70% of the world's total gold reserves. The dollar, the currency convertible into gold, has become the basis for currency parities, the predominant means of international settlement, foreign exchange intervention, and reserve assets. The national currency of the United States has become the world's money at the same time.

Foreign exchange interventions were seen as a mechanism for adapting the monetary system to changing external conditions, similar to the transfer of gold reserves to regulate the balance of payments under the gold standard. Currency rates could be changed only in the presence of significant imbalances in the balance of payments. It was these changes in exchange rates within the framework of firm parities that were called revaluation and devaluation currencies.

Bretton Woods Monetary System Crisis

Fundamental causes of the crisis

This system could exist only as long as the US gold reserves could provide the conversion of foreign dollars into gold. The collapse of the dollar was predetermined. The US gold reserves were literally melting before our eyes: at times, 3 tons a day. And this, again, despite all the imaginable and inconceivable measures that the United States took to stop the leakage of gold, to make sure that the dollar was “reversible until they demand its reversibility” (C. de Gaulle). The possibilities for exchanging dollars for gold were in every possible way limited: it could be carried out only at the official level and only in one place - in the US Treasury. But the numbers speak for themselves: from 1949 to 1970, US gold reserves fell from 21,800 to 9,838.2 tons - more than half.

The last point in this "flight from the dollar" was put by General de Gaulle, not confining himself only to the declaration of the need to eliminate the priority of the dollar. From words, he moved on to deeds, presenting the US for the exchange of 1.5 billion US dollars. A scandal broke out. The United States began to put pressure on France as a NATO partner. And then General de Gaulle went even further, announcing the withdrawal of France from NATO, the elimination of all 189 NATO bases on French territory and the withdrawal of 35,000 NATO soldiers. To top it all off, during his official visit to the United States, he presented $ 750 million in exchange for gold. And the United States was forced to make this exchange at a fixed rate, since all the necessary formalities were met.

Of course, such a scale of "intervention" could not "bring down the dollar," but the blow was struck at the most vulnerable point - the "Achilles' heel" of the dollar. General de Gaulle created a precedent that is most dangerous for the United States. Suffice it to say that from 1965 to 1967 alone, the United States was forced to exchange its dollars for 3,000 tons of pure gold. Following France, Germany presented dollars for gold.

But the United States soon adopted equally unprecedented protective measures, unilaterally abandoning all of its earlier international obligations to back the dollar in gold.

In the early 70s, the redistribution of gold reserves in favor of Europe finally took place, and more and more cash and non-cash US dollars participated in the international circulation. There were significant problems with international liquidity, as gold production was small compared to the growth in international trade. Confidence in the dollar as a reserve currency was further diminished by the huge US balance of payments deficit. New financial centers (Western Europe, Japan) were formed, and their national currencies began to be gradually used as reserve ones. This led to the loss of the United States of its absolute dominant position in the financial world.

The problems of this system were clearly formulated in Triffin's dilemma (paradox) :

The issue of the key currency must correspond to the gold reserves of the issuing country. Excessive emission, not backed by gold reserves, can undermine the convertibility of the key currency to gold, which will cause a crisis of confidence in it. But the key currency must be issued in quantities sufficient to provide an increase in the international money supply to service the growing number of international transactions. Therefore, its issue should take place regardless of the size of the limited gold reserves of the issuing country.

In the process of developing the system, to partially remove this contradiction, it was proposed to use an artificial backup means - Special drawing rights... This mechanism still works today.

Additional causes of the crisis

1. Instability in the economy. The onset of the currency crisis in 1967 coincided with a slowdown in economic growth.
2. Rising inflation negatively affected the competitiveness of firms. Since different inflation rates in different countries affected the dynamics of the exchange rate in different ways, this created conditions for “exchange rate distortions”, which encouraged speculative movements of “hot” money.
3. In the 1970s, speculation exacerbated the currency crisis. The surplus of dollars in the form of a spontaneous avalanche of "hot" money periodically fell on one or another country, causing currency shocks and flight from one currency to another.
4. Instability of national balances of payments. Chronic deficits in some countries (especially the United States, Great Britain) and surplus in others (Germany, Japan) exacerbated currency fluctuations.
5. The discrepancy between the principles of the Bretton Woods system and the change in the balance of power in the world arena. The monetary system based on national currencies came into conflict with the internationalization of the world economy. This contradiction intensified as the economic positions of the United States and Great Britain weakened, which repaid the deficit of their balance of payments by issuing national currencies, using their status as reserve currencies. This was contrary to the interests of other countries.
6. The role of transnational corporations (TNCs) in the foreign exchange sphere: TNCs have gigantic short-term assets in different currencies, which can significantly exceed the reserves of the central banks of countries where corporations operate and, thus, TNCs can elude national control. When trying to avoid losses or make profits, TNCs participate in currency speculation, giving them a gigantic scale.

Thus, it gradually became necessary to revise the foundations of the existing monetary system. Its structural principles, established in 1944, have ceased to correspond to the real state of affairs. The essence of the crisis of the Bretton Woods system lies in the contradiction between the international character of international economic relations and the use for this of national currencies (mainly the US dollar), which are prone to depreciation.

Forms of manifestation of the crisis

• aggravation of the problem of international monetary liquidity:
  • "Currency fever" - a massive sale of unstable currencies in anticipation of their devaluation, the purchase of currencies - candidates for revaluation;
  • "Gold rush" - flight from unstable currencies to gold, a spontaneous increase in its price;
  • sharp fluctuations in official gold and foreign exchange reserves;

• panic on stock exchanges and a fall in securities prices in anticipation of changes in the exchange rate;

• activation of national and interstate currency regulation:
  • massive devaluation and revaluation of currencies (official and unofficial);
  • active foreign exchange interventions by central banks, including those agreed upon between several countries;
  • the use of foreign loans and borrowings from the IMF to support currencies;

• the struggle between two tendencies in international relations - cooperation and separate actions (up to trade and currency "wars").

Key dates of the development of the crisis

1. March 17, 1968 A double gold market has been established. The price of gold in private markets is set freely in accordance with supply and demand. According to official transactions for the central banks of the countries, the dollar is still convertible into gold at the official rate of $ 35 per troy ounce.
2. August 15, 1971. US President Richard Nixon announced a temporary ban on converting the dollar into gold at the official exchange rate for central banks.
3. December 17, 1971. Devaluation of the dollar against gold by 7.89%. The official price of gold increased from 35 to 38 dollars per 1 troy ounce without resuming the exchange of dollars for gold at this rate.
4. February 13, 1973. The dollar devalued to $ 42.2 per troy ounce.
5. March 16, 1973 The Jamaican International Conference subordinated exchange rates to the laws of the market. Since that time, exchange rates have not been fixed, but change under the influence of supply and demand. The system of fixed exchange rates ceased to exist.
6. January 8, 1976 After a transitional period, during which countries could try different models of the monetary system, at the meeting of the ministers of the IMF member countries in Kingston, Jamaica (Jamaica Conference), a new agreement was adopted on the structure of the international monetary system, which took the form of amendments to the IMF charter. A model of free mutual conversions was formed, which became characterized by fluctuations in exchange rates. Jamaican Monetary System operates in the world to the present time (2011), although in the light of the global crisis of 2008-2009, consultations began on the principles of a new world monetary system (Anti-crisis G20 summit, London G-20 summit).

Links

see also

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Introduction ……………………………………………………………… .2

The history of the creation of the Bretton Woods monetary system ……… 3

Principles of the Bretton Woods System …………………………… 5

Causes of the Bretton Woods Monetary System Crisis ……… 7

Forms of manifestation of the Bretton Woods crisis

currency system ………………………………. ………… ................... 10

History of the Bretton Woods System Crisis ………………… .... 11

Features and socio-economic consequences of the crisis of the Bretton Woods monetary system ………………………… .... 12

Conclusion …………………………………………………………… .14

References …………………………………………………… ... 15

INTRODUCTION

Bretton Woods monetary system- This is a special currency regulation, the rules of which are reflected in an agreement signed by representatives of more than forty states at a special UN conference dedicated to world financial issues. The monetary system was named at the conference venue - the Bretton Woods resort in the United States of America. It was then, in 1944, that the decision was made to create the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which formed the basis of the new monetary system.

The Bretton Woods monetary system was created to provide certain freedoms to world trade, as well as to stabilize exchange rates by linking them with the US dollar and gold. In connection with these events, the term "gold and exchange rate" came into being and the official price of gold was fixed - an ounce at a price of $ 35. In fact, the dollar became one of the types of world money, which placed a great responsibility on this currency.

The functioning of this system could be carried out unhindered only as long as the US gold reserves could allow the free conversion of the dollar. As practice has shown, this situation could not last long.

The crisis of the Bretton Woods system was caused by a change in the balance of the main forces of the world economy and the fall in the US dollar. Since it was the key currency of the system, its fall caused the destruction of fixed rates and the entire world monetary system. One way or another, with the tasks that were assigned to it when it was created - the restoration of international trade and the strengthening of states in the foreign trade balance - the Bretton Woods system was able to cope. And its collapse was the reason for the development new activities- currency trading.

1. The history of the creation of the Bretton Woods system

The patterns of development of the monetary system are determined by the reproductive criterion, reflect the main stages in the development of the national and world economy. This criterion manifests itself in the periodic inconsistency of the principles of the world monetary system with changes in the structure of the world economy, as well as in the balance of power between its main centers. In this regard, the crisis of the world monetary system periodically arises.

In a crisis of the world monetary system, the operation of its structural principles is violated, and currency contradictions are sharply exacerbated. Acute outbreaks and dramatic events associated with the currency crisis cannot last long without a threat to reproduction. Therefore, various means are used to smooth out the acute forms of the currency crisis and reform the world monetary system.

The evolution of the world monetary system is determined by the development and needs of the national and world economy, changes in the balance of power in the world.

The Great Depression of the 1930s brought about the collapse of the gold standard system. It also pushed countries to erect trade barriers, which have largely held back international trade. The Second World War had an equally devastating effect on world trade. Therefore, it is fair to say that by the end of this war, world trade and the monetary system were in ruins.

In order to develop the foundations of the world monetary system, from July 1 to 22, 1944, an international conference of allied countries was convened in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire (USA).

Anglo-American experts from the very beginning rejected the idea of ​​a return to the gold standard. They sought to develop the principles of a new world monetary system capable of ensuring economic growth and limiting the negative socio-economic consequences of economic crises. The desire of the United States to consolidate the dominant position of the dollar in the world monetary system was reflected in the plan of G.D. White (Chief of the Currency Research Division of the US Treasury Department).

As a result of long discussions on the plans of G.D. White and J.M. Keynes (Great Britain) formally defeated the American project, although Keynesian ideas of interstate currency regulation were also used as the basis for the Bretton Woods system.

Both currency projects have common features:

free trade and capital movement;

balanced balances of payments, stable exchange rates and the world monetary system as a whole;

preservation of the advantages of the previous system of the gold standard (fixed exchange rates), while sweeping aside its disadvantages (complex processes of internal macroeconomic transformations)

creation of an international organization to monitor the functioning of the world monetary system, for mutual cooperation and covering the balance of payments deficit.

On December 27, 1945, at the conference, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was created on the basis of an agreement (IMF Charter), designed to make the new monetary system real and efficient. In 1945, this Charter was signed by 29 states. The IMF began operations on March 1, 1947, as part of the Bretton Woods system.