The Evolving International Monetary System

The global financial and economic crisis has prompted renewed interest in international monetary reform. The key-currency status of the US dollar has been challenged but discussion of what might be reasonable objectives and institutional structures for a new system has not yet broken new ground. Nevertheless, as interest in the issue begins to include policymakers and non-governmental organisations, new proposals are likely to emerge. To assist the process, this paper provides an overview of how the international monetary system has evolved since the inauguration of the gold standard in the late 1800s to provide a context for some of the reform ideas that emerged during and after the discussions at Bretton Woods and some of the proposals that were offered subsequently. It concludes with an outline of three proposals by the author that are intended to expand the debate