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The Bretton Woods System: The Caribbean Political Economy

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The Bretton Woods System: The Caribbean Political Economy
BARBADOS COMMUNITY COLLEGE
DIVISION OF COMMERCE
ASSOCIATE DEGREE IN ARTS
DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS STUDIES
SEMESTER 2: JANUARY-MAY 2012
GOVT 202: CARIBBEAN POLITICAL ECONOMY

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

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

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



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

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