An international monetary system is a set of internationally agreed rules, conventions and supporting institutions that facilitate international trade, cross border investment and generally the reallo
Historic international currencies. From top left: crystalline gold, a 5th-century BCE Persian daric, an 8th-century English mancus, and an 18th-century Spanish real.
The British gold sovereign or £1 coin was the preeminent circulating gold coin during the classical gold standard period. of 1816 to 1914
This era saw periods of worldwide economic hardship. The image is Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother depiction of destitute pea-pickers in California, taken in March 1936.
Harry Dexter White (left) and John Maynard Keynes (right) at Bretton Woods
John Maynard Keynes
Videos
John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, was an English economist whose writings are considered the basis for the school of thought known as Keynesian economics, as well as its various offshoots. Origin
Keynes in 1929
King's College, Cambridge. Keynes's grandmother wrote to him saying that, since he was born in Cambridge, people will expect him to be clever.
Prime Minister David Lloyd George. Keynes was initially wary of the "Welsh Wizard," preferring his rival Asquith, but was impressed with Lloyd George at Versailles; this did not deter Keynes from painting a scathing picture of the then-prime minister in The Economic Consequences of the Peace.