Are We Out of the (Bretton) Woods Yet? The International Financial Architecture 80 Years On

July 2024 marks the 80th anniversary of the Bretton Woods Agreement that established the post-World War II multilateral economic order. The agreement, reached at the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire in 1944, led to the establishment of the Bretton Woods institutions, including the International Monetary Fund and precursors to the World Bank and World Trade Organization.

A new report by the Boston University Global Development Policy Center (GDP Center) synthesizes our work on global economic governance focused on the Bretton Woods institutions across three key pillars of financial stability, development finance and trade.

While the Bretton Woods institutions have established a rules-based, multilateral system of global economic governance, the GDP Center’s policy-oriented research finds that this system is in urgent need of fundamental reform. To that end, the report outlines key global economic governance reform proposals to ensure a bigger, better and more inclusive Bretton Woods System in the coming decades.

On Tuesday, July 30, 10:00-11:00 AM EDT, join us for a webinar discussion featuring experts across financial stability, development finance and trade to reflect on 80 years of the Bretton Woods system and present pathways for reforming the global economic governance architecture.

Speakers:

- Marina Zucker-Marques, Senior Academic Researcher, Global Economic Governance Initiative, Boston University Global Development Policy Center

- Rachel Thrasher, Researcher, Global Economic Governance Initiative, Boston University Global Development Policy Center

- Rishikesh Ram Bhandary, Assistant Director, Global Economic Governance Initiative, Boston University Global Development Policy Center

- Tim Hirschel-Burns (Moderator), Policy Liaison, Global Economic Governance Initiative, Boston University Global Development Policy Center