doi:10.1093/oxrep/grs028 © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. Fo r permissions please e-mail: journals .permissions@oup .com The multiple contexts of Bretton Woods Harold James* Abstract This paper examines why so much de bate a bout the structure of the international economy revolves around a conference held at Bretton Woods in July 1944 which was not immediately conspicu- ously successful. There was a unique confluence of contempor ary contexts—in terms of trade policy , stabilization policy, and policies with regard to capital movements—that meant that prevailing ideas (especiall y the ideas of John Ma ynard Keynes ) and the interests of the United States coincided. It was fundamentally a victory of the United States, but dressed up as benign multilateralism. A similarly unique combination of circumstances surrounded European efforts in the 1970s and was later to cre- ate, through the European Monetary System, a scaled-down version of Bretton Woods. The myth of Bretton Woods was created by a powerful retrospective interpretation or retrospective context that lent a golden halo to the whole exercise. In that sense our interpretation of a very specific historical event is inseparably intertwined with views of what happened after as well as before that event. Key words: Bretton Woods, European Monetary System, international economic order, international cooperation, imbalances, capital movements, inconsistent trinity JEL classification : E65, F33, F36, F55, F68 I. Introduction Bretton Woods has become a powerful myth. It is the only instantly recognizable loca- tion of the series of conferences of the wartime coalition (the United Nations) held shortly before and after the end of the Second World War. Hot Springs (the conference in May and June 1943 that discussed food and agriculture) and Dumbarton Oaks (the meetings that sketched out a future international organization from August to October 1944) are easily forgotten; even the San Francisco conference (April–June 1945), that established the post-war United Nations system, is scarcely identifiable to any but the expert in United Nations history. By contrast, the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, held in July 1944 at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, is still instantly recognizable as a view of the world. This paper suggests tha t this view stems from a unique confluence of contempora ry contexts—in terms of trade policy, stabilization policy, and policies with regard to capi- tal movements—but also from a powerful retrospective interpretation or retrospective * Princeton University, e-mail: [email protected] Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Volume 28, Number 3, 2012, pp. 411–430 a t P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y o n u g u s t 2 , 2 0 1 3 h t t p : / / o r e p . o x f o r d j o u r n a l s . o r g / D o w n l o a d e d f r o m
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 1/20
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 2/20
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 3/20
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 4/20
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 5/20
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 6/20
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 7/20
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 8/20
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 9/20
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 10/20
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 11/20
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 12/20
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 13/20
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 14/20
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 15/20
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 16/20
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 17/20
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 18/20
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 19/20
8/16/2019 Bretton Woods. Multiple Contexts - Harold James
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/bretton-woods-multiple-contexts-harold-james 20/20
Related Documents
