Why Forex?: The Bretton Woods Accord

The Bretton Woods Accord

The Bretton Woods Accord was established to restore global economic stability.

The first major transformation, the Bretton Woods Accord, occurred near the end of World War II. The United States, Great Britain and France met at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference in Bretton Woods, N.H., to design a new global economic direction. The location was chosen because, at the time, the U.S. was the only country unscathed by war. Most of the major European countries were in shambles. Up until WWII, the British pound was the major currency by which most currencies were compared, but that changed when the Nazi campaign against Britain included a major counterfeiting effort against its currency. In fact, WWII vaulted the U.S. dollar, from a failed currency after the stock market crash of 1929 to benchmark currency, by which most other international currencies would become compared and valued. The Bretton Woods Accord was established to create a stable environment, leading to an onslaught of other global economies restoring themselves and their currencies. In fact, the Brettonn Woods Accord established the pegging of currencies and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in hopes of stabilizing the global economic situation.

Major currencies were now pegged to the U.S. dollar, fluctuating by one percent on either side of the set standard against the dollar. When a currency's exchange rate would approach the limit on either side of this standard, the respective central bank would intervene to bring the exchange rate back into the accepted range. At the same time, the U.S. dollar was pegged to gold at a price of $35 per ounce, further bringing stability to other currencies and world forex situation.

The Bretton Woods Accord lasted until 1971. Ultimately, it failed, but it did accomplish what its charter set out to do, which was to reestablish economic stability in Europe and Japan. The major reason it failed was because it continued to use a set standard to fix a currency against a smaller market, such as gold.

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