New Bretton Woods for a New World: Reflections on the Future 80 Years After the Bretton Woods Confer

Examine the evolving role of the U.S. dollar as the global currency since the Bretton Woods Conference, questioning the need for a new monetary system in today's changing world.

Over seventy-five years ago, in the midst of World War II, delegates from 45 countries met in the New Hampshire town of Bretton Woods to define a global monetary system for the postwar world. Those arrangements have been challenged on many occasions, and yet their core premise--the U.S. dollar as the anchor currency for the world--remains very much alive. However, today's world is very different than the postwar era, and the dollar's role is being challenged. Transatlantic Leadership Network senior fellows Giovanni Tria and Angelo Federico Arcelli discuss these changes and explore whether a new monetary system is needed for a new world.