The Bretton Woods System (HOM 35-A)

History of Money, Lecture 35, Pt. A: overview of the Bretton Woods Conference in New Hampshire in July 1944, including the emergence of the US dollar as the world's reserve currency, the establishment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development). Also includes a discussion of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and leading banker David Rockefeller.
_______________________________________
If enjoy this channel and would like to support:
/ professorbarth
Follow me on X:
/ professor_barth
Buy my book! The Currency of Empire: Money and Power in English America, released June 2021 with Cornell University Press. Order your copy now.
www.amazon.com/Currency-Empir...
_______________________________________
Dr. Jonathan Barth received his PhD in history from George Mason University in 2014. He specializes in the history of money and banking in the early modern period, with corollary interests in early modern politics, empire, culture, and ideas. Barth is Associate Professor of History at Arizona State University and Associate Director of the Center for American Institutions at Arizona State University.
_______________________________________
Visit my website www.professorbarth.com/
_______________________________________
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on this channel are my own and do not reflect the views of Arizona State University, nor are any of the views endorsed by Arizona State University.

[@ProfessorBarth]

Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/Professor_Barth If you enjoy this channel and want to support: www.patreon.com/professorbarth Buy my book: www.amazon.com/Currency-Empire-Seventeenth-Century-English-America-ebook/dp/B08L6ZPV19/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=currency+of+empire&sr=8-1 History of Money playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLinliDgP9EbScxfH5wxoX8I_HNRSElqZ_ Foundations of Western Political Thought playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLinliDgP9EbRu4qZn8SJFgysSQB5I4c-L

[@lukasbaral5108]

THE best bretton woods video out there, I finally understand what its all about.

[@mikekimikekimike]

5:30 20 000 tonnes = 44 million pounds. Thanks for a great lecture!

[@Pr0tOtyPE005]

I agree great lecture as usual, but I was also wondering about that conversion. I had carried more on my truck lol

[@juliust.5650]

Thank you for these videos. You've been answering many questions about our financial systems, and their history, that I've had without going too far into the weeds. You've summarized things very well and made it a lot easier to understand without having to wade through tomes of information.

[@adambased7928]

Excellent content .well done

[@ProfessorBarth]

Thank you Adam

[@DKPSKs]

Tremendous. I'm watching all of your lectures, hope it's ok if I reach out to you with questions or observations I may have.

[@billmitchell2080]

I would suggest interested readers, find Arthur Schlesinger's trilogy on FDR and the New Deal. Dismissing the New Deal in this manner has factional intent.

[@welchkoservices4200]

You've certainly found the rabbit hole. Now, you're off to see the wizard. The not so wonderful wizard of Oz. That's ounces. Frank Baum, back in the day tried to tell us, but somehow dorothy's shoes, turned from silver, to ruby.... One, really is a pet rock.

[@NICOLONDOTO]

Hello, where can I see the bibliography?

[@ProfessorBarth]

Sources: "Creation of the Bretton Woods System" by Federal Reserve History (a research arm of the Fed); "The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World" by Niall Ferguson; "Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar" by Barry Eichengreen; "A History of Money and Banking in the United States" by Murray Rothbard; and "All The Presidents' Bankers: The Hidden Alliances That Drive American Power" by Nomi Prins.

[@user-ot4jy8vl7i]

Can you please elaborate more on why dollar would cost more than gold between 1944 and 1960s? (you mention it as a reason why national central banks would not try to exchange dollar for gold before the 1960s)

[@ProfessorBarth]

In the late 1940s there was a severe dollar shortage -- the dollar was so hard, that in reality, it was worth more than gold at the fixed price of $35 an ounce. People and businesses that dealt overseas desperately wanted dollars; it was the world reserve currency and there was a shortage of them overseas. One of the reasons behind the Marshall Plan was to introduce more dollars overseas. By the late 1950s there was a dollar glut and the opposite problem occurred, though immense pressure was placed on foreign central banks throughout the 1960s to not demand redemption.

[@mikeballard8404]

Interesting, as we watch the Central banks moving us closer to a global banking center, no longer banks with national interests.

[@SandhillCrane42]

Here's the real job crusher, not the bathroom politics of sensationalism. CFR? Think Tank=$$$

[@Mahdah1955]

Very good topics, but unfortunately the explanation is very boring.

[@bradatherton9369]

Are you expecting a delivery more on par with something from The History Channel? WTF, it's a free service. Quicherbichin.