Bretton Woods Agreement (1944)

The Bretton Woods Agreement, signed in July 1944 by 44 Allied nations, established the post-World War II international monetary order: a system of fixed exchange rates pegged to the US dollar, itself convertible to gold at $35 per ounce. It created the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The system collapsed in 1971 when President Nixon suspended dollar-gold convertibility (the Nixon Shock), ushering in the era of fiat currency and floating exchange rates. A critical document for understanding the constructed — and dismantled — foundations of the modern monetary system and the property rights implications of state monetary control.