Bretton Woods Agreements

Report Outline
Bretton Woods Plan and World Organization
Plan for World Reconstruction Bank
Plans for International Monetary Fund
Criticism and Defense of Monetary Fund
Fear of Perpetual Drain on Dollar Resources
Special Focus

Bretton Woods Plan and World Organization

As delegates of the United Nations begin their work at San Francisco on final plans for a world security organization, Congress is preparing to take up the proposals for an International Monetary Fund and an International Bank for Reconstruction and Development formulated at Bretton Woods. Approval by the House and Senate of United States participation in the Bank and the Fund would be widely regarded as evidence that this country is prepared to accept its responsibilities as the dominant financial power of the postwar world.

In a special message to Congress, Feb. 12, President Roosevelt strongly urged approval of the Bretton Woods plan as “one of the most sound and useful proposals for international collaboration now before us.” He said:

If we are to measure up to the task of peace with the same stature as we have measured up to the task of war, we must see that the institutions of peace rest firmly on the solid foundations of international political and economic cooperation. The cornerstone for international political cooperation is the Dumbarton Oaks proposal for a permanent United Nations. International political relations will be friendly and constructive, however, only if solutions are found to the difficult economic problems we face today. The cornerstone for international economic cooperation is the Bretton Woods proposal for an International Monetary Fund and an International Bank for Reconstuction and Development.