Thanks to Kurt Schuler for this new book about Bretton Woods and the origins of the IMF
In the introduction to this e-book, Steve H. Hanke and former executive director of the IMF, Jacques de Larosière write “It has been almost seventy years since Bretton Woods, New Hampshire hosted one of the world’s most important financial conferences. The Bretton Woods conference was a star-studded affair — one in which the postwar rules of the game for a new monetary order were hammered out, and one that gave birth to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. It is, therefore, remarkable that the Bretton Woods transcripts have never seen the light of day. Indeed, for decades the transcripts had gone unnoticed, collecting dust in the library of the U.S. Treasury, until they were uncovered by Kurt Schuler. We owe him a debt of gratitude for this discovery, and for his painstaking work. Schuler, along with his coeditor, Andrew Rosenberg, has done a superb job in putting this treasure trove in shape for publication. Even though there have been thousands and thousands of pages written about the Bretton Woods conference, nothing beats the transcripts for a first-hand feel of what transpired. In a matter of three short weeks, in July 1944, an enormous amount of high-quality output was produced. The transcripts tell the tale. What they don’t tell is that a great deal of preparation preceded Bretton Woods. Indeed, the conference and its output did not just appear out of thin air.In 1941, John Maynard Keynes of the United Kingdom and Harry Dexter White of the United States produced drafts of their respective visions for a postwar international monetary order.”
The two controversial figures: John Maynard Keynes, and Harry Dexter White, are the main actors in these discussions. White was an alleged communist spy, but take a look at what this historian writes on this review posted by the CIA. Spy or not spy? This book will help us understand part of the history of the institutions of unsound money.
For further information and to purchase the e-book (only 9$) check http://www.centerforfinancialstability.org/brettonwoods.php
AIER Staff
Founded in 1933, The American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) educates people on the value of personal freedom, free enterprise, property rights, limited government, and sound money. AIER’s ongoing scientific research demonstrates the importance of these principles in advancing peace, prosperity, and human progress.
