The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics (28 page)
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Brandt Report
(1st Report 1980, 2nd Report 1983)
Name given to findings and recommendations of an international study group led by former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt . The Reports drew attention to inequalities between
North
and
South
, and recommended a restructuring of the world monetary regime, redistribution of income through larger global commitments to ‘development funds’, and negotiations to reform the international economic system.
SW
Name given to findings and recommendations of an international study group led by former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt . The Reports drew attention to inequalities between
North
and
South
, and recommended a restructuring of the world monetary regime, redistribution of income through larger global commitments to ‘development funds’, and negotiations to reform the international economic system.
SW
Bretton Woods
A New Hampshire mountain resort at which an agreement was signed by forty-four countries in July 1944 to establish an international monetary and payments system, a process which had begun as Anglo-American wartime collaboration; hence ‘Bretton Woods system’ is the name given to the institutions set up by the Bretton Woods agreement and to their interactions.
Mindful of the economic disasters of the 1930s and the failure of the interwar international monetary system known as the Gold Standard, the delegates recognized that a successful replacement had to be compatible with the domestic policy priorities and objectives of participating countries. A stable monetary and payments system was seen as the necessary underpinning of a liberal international trade regime ( see
GATT
). The outcome of the negotiations would have important distributional consequences for national economies and would provide the framework for the international financial system and capital flows. As the
Cold War
emerged in 1946–7, the agreement in practice became limited to countries of the Western alliance and the developing world. The Bretton Woods institutions entrenched the interests of the most developed market economies among this group.
The delegates devised a payments system and exchange rate mechanism based on fixed but adjustable exchange rates pegged to the American dollar, dollar-gold convertibility at a fixed price ($35.00/ounce), international co-operation in the control of short-term capital flows, and two crucial public international institutions, the
International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD or
World Bank
). Members of these organizations with payments difficulties and related exchange rate problems would be able to borrow from the IMF in the short term and the IBRD would provide long-term financing for economic reconstruction and development. The authors of the agreement intended that public
multilateral
co-operative institutions would underpin the exchange rate and payments system, as opposed to private market processes or unilateral nationalist policies of the most powerful states, as during the interwar disaster.
In the event, the resources provided for the two institutions were grossly inadequate for the task in the immediate postwar years, and the attempt to establish what came to be known as the Bretton Woods system collapsed in 1947. The inadequate level of resources largely reflected the concerns of the US Congress: as the only country in the immediate post-war period with a sustainable payments surplus, a still isolationist Congress was unwilling unilaterally to finance recovery in Europe and the Far East. From 1947 the plan was put on hold until currencies other than the US dollar could sustain international convertibility, which was accomplished for most by 1959. Meanwhile, through the
Marshall Plan
and other programmes of aid to allies in the early Cold War, unilateral United States aid effectively replaced the IMF and World Bank as providers of international liquidity and the American dollar became the principal reserve currency in the system. The World Bank's activities became limited to the problems of the Less Developed Countries in the global economy, a role which continues to this day.
The Bretton Woods ‘system’ which emerged in the 1960s differed in important respects from the original plan. The US dollar functioned as a ‘key currency’ in the system, with dollar outflows eclipsing the meagre resources of the IMF in financing international trade and payments. The US Treasury and Federal Reserve institutions were thus able to assert primary responsibility and control of the system through their discretionary manipulation of the dollar, thus sidestepping the prescribed role of the IMF. As the dollar became overvalued through a failure on the part of the United States to adjust to intensified trade competition and to keep inflation in check, confidence in the exchange rate parities declined. In addition, international capital markets began to exert pressure on the exchange rate mechanism and international payments equilibrium. The commitment of the US government to convert dollars to gold at a fixed rate was challenged by speculators, and the United States unilaterally abrogated the system in August 1971. There were attempts at reform of the system, but differences among the big market economies prevented re-establishment with new parities and rules. The era known as Bretton Woods officially came to an end with the ‘Jamaica’ amendments to the IMF Articles of Agreement in 1976 instituting a ‘non-system’ of floating exchange rates.
GU
Mindful of the economic disasters of the 1930s and the failure of the interwar international monetary system known as the Gold Standard, the delegates recognized that a successful replacement had to be compatible with the domestic policy priorities and objectives of participating countries. A stable monetary and payments system was seen as the necessary underpinning of a liberal international trade regime ( see
GATT
). The outcome of the negotiations would have important distributional consequences for national economies and would provide the framework for the international financial system and capital flows. As the
Cold War
emerged in 1946–7, the agreement in practice became limited to countries of the Western alliance and the developing world. The Bretton Woods institutions entrenched the interests of the most developed market economies among this group.
The delegates devised a payments system and exchange rate mechanism based on fixed but adjustable exchange rates pegged to the American dollar, dollar-gold convertibility at a fixed price ($35.00/ounce), international co-operation in the control of short-term capital flows, and two crucial public international institutions, the
International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD or
World Bank
). Members of these organizations with payments difficulties and related exchange rate problems would be able to borrow from the IMF in the short term and the IBRD would provide long-term financing for economic reconstruction and development. The authors of the agreement intended that public
multilateral
co-operative institutions would underpin the exchange rate and payments system, as opposed to private market processes or unilateral nationalist policies of the most powerful states, as during the interwar disaster.
In the event, the resources provided for the two institutions were grossly inadequate for the task in the immediate postwar years, and the attempt to establish what came to be known as the Bretton Woods system collapsed in 1947. The inadequate level of resources largely reflected the concerns of the US Congress: as the only country in the immediate post-war period with a sustainable payments surplus, a still isolationist Congress was unwilling unilaterally to finance recovery in Europe and the Far East. From 1947 the plan was put on hold until currencies other than the US dollar could sustain international convertibility, which was accomplished for most by 1959. Meanwhile, through the
Marshall Plan
and other programmes of aid to allies in the early Cold War, unilateral United States aid effectively replaced the IMF and World Bank as providers of international liquidity and the American dollar became the principal reserve currency in the system. The World Bank's activities became limited to the problems of the Less Developed Countries in the global economy, a role which continues to this day.
The Bretton Woods ‘system’ which emerged in the 1960s differed in important respects from the original plan. The US dollar functioned as a ‘key currency’ in the system, with dollar outflows eclipsing the meagre resources of the IMF in financing international trade and payments. The US Treasury and Federal Reserve institutions were thus able to assert primary responsibility and control of the system through their discretionary manipulation of the dollar, thus sidestepping the prescribed role of the IMF. As the dollar became overvalued through a failure on the part of the United States to adjust to intensified trade competition and to keep inflation in check, confidence in the exchange rate parities declined. In addition, international capital markets began to exert pressure on the exchange rate mechanism and international payments equilibrium. The commitment of the US government to convert dollars to gold at a fixed rate was challenged by speculators, and the United States unilaterally abrogated the system in August 1971. There were attempts at reform of the system, but differences among the big market economies prevented re-establishment with new parities and rules. The era known as Bretton Woods officially came to an end with the ‘Jamaica’ amendments to the IMF Articles of Agreement in 1976 instituting a ‘non-system’ of floating exchange rates.
GU
brinkmanship
Brinkmanship is usually associated with the
Cold War
practice of the superpowers wherein either might precipitate a crisis involving a potential nuclear holocaust (‘going to the brink’) in the hope that the adversary would make concessions on the issue in question (e.g. the 1961 crisis over Berlin or the 1962
Cuban Missile Crisis
). By analogy the term may include any highstakes political ‘gamesmanship’, particularly in international politics.
GU
Cold War
practice of the superpowers wherein either might precipitate a crisis involving a potential nuclear holocaust (‘going to the brink’) in the hope that the adversary would make concessions on the issue in question (e.g. the 1961 crisis over Berlin or the 1962
Cuban Missile Crisis
). By analogy the term may include any highstakes political ‘gamesmanship’, particularly in international politics.
GU
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Bryce , James
(1838–1922)
British politician, diplomat, jurist, and historian. He became a professor of law at Oxford before becoming a Member of Parliament in 1880. He held office in several Liberal governments. From 1907–13 he was British Ambassador to the United States. His most important academic work
The American Commonwealth
, first published in 1888, was a detailed and highly sympathetic study of the politics of the United States in the late nineteenth century.
DM
British politician, diplomat, jurist, and historian. He became a professor of law at Oxford before becoming a Member of Parliament in 1880. He held office in several Liberal governments. From 1907–13 he was British Ambassador to the United States. His most important academic work
The American Commonwealth
, first published in 1888, was a detailed and highly sympathetic study of the politics of the United States in the late nineteenth century.
DM
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