Gold Standard Essay

The Gold Standard Era, 1870-1914(One Version of Fixed Rates)
Definition:
The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed weight of gold. It follows that anything whose value is linked to that of gold must be as stable in value as gold.

Types:
1. The gold specie standard 金币本位制(黄金铸币)
2. The gold exchange standard 金兑汇本位制
3. The gold bullion standard 金块本位制(黄金)

Reasons why the gold standard couldn’t make its way:
1. First, the total reserve of gold worldwide isn’t large enough. The increase of gold exploited could hardly feed the skyrocketing of productivity. The market appeared to be too small when under the restraint of gold.
2. Secondly is the extremely unequal allocation of gold. By the end of 1913, gold held by the US, the UK, Germany, France and Russia combined took up 2/3 of the world total reserve. This on some level sabotaged the free coinage and free circulation, put multilateral relationships in jeopardy.
3. Thirdly, the arsenal trade on gold had ultimately ceased free circulation as well as exchange redemption which consequently marked the demise of the Gold Standard.
The Bretton Woods Era, 1944-1971 (Adjustment Pegged Rates)
Content:
With the collapse of the gold standard and the Great Depression of the 1930s fresh in their minds, these statesmen were determined to build an enduring economic order that would facilitate postwar economic growth. The agreement reached at Bretton Woods established two multinational institutions - the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The task of the IMF would be to maintain order in the international monetary system and that of the World Bank would be to promote general economic development.
The U.S. dollar was the only currency to be convertible to gold, and other currencies would set their exchange rates relative to the dollar. Devaluations were not to be used for competitive purposes, and a country could not devalue the currency by more than 10% without IMF approval.

Feature: Its central feature was the adjustable peg, which called for a fixed exchange rate and temporary financing out of international reserves unless a country’s balance of payments was seen to be in “fundamental disequilibrium”. A country in that condition might then change its “fixed” exchange rate to a new official par value that looked sustainable.

The international Monetary Fund (IMF): The IMF was created as the global institution that promotes international monetary stability and lends reserves to member countries to finance temporary deficits.
The World Bank: The official name of the World Bank is the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). The bank lends money under two schemes. Under the IBRD scheme, money is raised through bond sales in the international capital market. Borrowers pay what the bank calls a market rate of interest - the bank's cost of funds plus a margin for expenses. A second scheme is overseen by the International Development Agency (IDA), an arm of the bank created in 1960. IDA loans go only to the poorest countries.

The cause of the collapse of the Bretton Woods:
1. The defects of the system itself. With the dollar as the center of the international monetary system, the root cause of the collapse, is the system itself exists not the contradiction of liberation. In this system, the us dollar as an international means of payment and international reserves method, plays the function of world currency.

2. On the one hand, the dollar as an international means of payment and international reserves method, request the dollar stability, will be international payments by other countries generally accepted. And the dollar stability, not only wants the United States to have enough gold reserve, but also for America's balance of payments must keep surplus, so that the gold into the United States and constantly increase their gold reserves. Otherwise, people

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