The Bretton Woods Agreement: A Turning Point in Global Economic History

In 1944, as the world was still engulfed in the devastation of World War II, the global economy had collapsed and people’s living standards had plummeted. In an effort to stabilize the international economy and address pressing global financial issues, the Allied nations convened a historic summit. Nearly 730 delegates from 44 countries gathered at the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, for the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference. The outcome of this summit was the landmark Bretton Woods Agreement, which gave birth to the Bretton Woods System.