The Bretton Woods system and the Jamaican system are two international monetary systems. They are also common knowledge points in economic exams and are also basic common sense about the international monetary system.

(1) The establishment of the Bretton Woods System

The so-called Bretton Woods System refers to the Bretton Woods System in New Hampshire, USA, established in July 1944 by 44 Countries participated in the conference and agreed to establish an international monetary system centered on the U.S. dollar.

One year before the end of World War II, from July 1 to 22, 1944, the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference with 44 countries participating in the discussion was held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA. The conference adopted the Agreement of the International Monetary Fund and the Agreement of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, establishing the basic content of the new international monetary system. It already accounts for 3/4 of the capitalist world. Therefore, if the monetary system is still closely linked to gold, it will actually establish an international monetary system centered on the United States.

(2) The main contents of the Bretton Woods system

The Bretton Woods system includes five aspects, namely the standard system, the exchange rate system and the maintenance of the exchange rate system, the reserve system, the international balance of payments adjustment system and the corresponding organizational form.

1. Standard system

In terms of standard system, the Bretton Woods system stipulates that the U.S. dollar is linked to gold. Countries confirm that the gold content of 1 U.S. dollar in January 1934 was 0.88671 grams. For pure gold, the official price of gold is US$35 for 1 ounce of gold. The United States is obliged to exchange U.S. dollars at the official price to governments or central banks of various countries. At the same time, in order to protect this official price of gold from the impact of gold prices in the international financial market, governments of various countries have The gold price needs to be coordinated with the US government's intervention in the market

2. Exchange rate system

In terms of the exchange rate system, it stipulates that the currencies of the member countries of the International Monetary Fund are pegged to the US dollar, that is, the currencies of various countries are pegged to the US dollar. Maintain a stable exchange rate. The exchange rate between each country's currency and the US dollar is determined based on the comparison of the gold content of the respective currency and the gold content of the US dollar, or the gold content of the national currency is not specified, but only the exchange rate with the US dollar. This means that the exchange rate between the member countries of the International Monetary Fund. It is a fixed exchange rate, and countries cannot arbitrarily change the gold content of their currencies. If the gold content of a certain currency needs to be adjusted by more than 10, it must be approved by the International Monetary Fund. The exchange rate fluctuation allowed by the International Monetary Fund is 1, and only within 10 seconds. Only when a fundamental imbalance occurs in a member country's balance of payments can its currency parity be changed.

3. Reserve system

In terms of the reserve system, the U.S. dollar has achieved the same status as gold. The status of international reserve assets. This system determines the status of the US dollar in international reserves. 4. Balance of payments adjustment system. In terms of the balance of payments adjustment mechanism, members The country shall not impose restrictions on foreign exchange transactions under the current account of the international balance of payments, and shall not implement discriminatory monetary measures or multi-currency exchange rate systems.

5. Organizational form

In order to ensure the above-mentioned currency. To implement the system, two major international organizations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, were established.

Before 1960, the main problem of the Bretton Woods system was the "dollar shortage"; after 1960, the main problem was. It’s a “dollar disaster.” The continuous troubles of this problem finally made the United States feel that it could not support the entire international monetary system on its own. In August 1971, the United States announced that it would stop converting the U.S. dollar into gold. This action meant that the foundation of the Bretton Woods system was shaken. In 1973, Western countries reached an agreement to implement a floating exchange rate system, and the Bretton Woods system completely collapsed.

2. The Jamaican System

After the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, re-establishing, or at least reforming, the original monetary system became a central issue in the international financial field. In October 1971, the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund proposed changes to the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund. In July 1972, the Board of Governors decided to establish the "Committee of 20" to specifically study plans for reforming the international monetary system. This committee, and the "Interim Committee" that later replaced this committee, did a lot of preparatory work for the reform. In January 1976, member states held a meeting in Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, to discuss amending the terms of the Agreement of the International Monetary Fund. At the end of the meeting, the "Jamaica Agreement" was reached. In April of the same year, the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund adopted the Second Amendment to the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund based on the Jamaica Agreement, which came into effect on April 1, 1978, thus effectively forming the A new international monetary system based on the Jamaica Agreement. The main contents of the new international monetary system include three aspects, namely the exchange rate system, the reserve system and financial financing issues.

In terms of exchange rate system, the "Jamaica Agreement" recognized the legitimacy of floating exchange rates. It pointed out that the International Monetary Fund agreed to the temporary coexistence of fixed and floating exchange rates, but members must accept the supervision of the Fund to prevent the phenomenon of competitive devaluation of currencies of various countries.

In terms of the reserve system, the "Jamaica Agreement" clearly proposes the demonetization of gold, and member states can buy and sell gold in the market at market prices; it also cancels the use of gold to settle claims and debts between members and between members and the IMF. regulations to reduce the monetary role of gold; gradually dispose of the gold held by the IMF, sell 1/6 of the IMF's total gold at market prices, and return another 1/6 to each member; determine that the main reserves are Special Drawing Rights assets, changing the U.S. dollar standard to the Special Drawing Rights standard.

Special drawing rights (SDRs) are an international reserve asset and accounting unit created by the International Monetary Fund in 1969 to solve the problem of international solvency. It represents members in ordinary withdrawals. A special right to use funds other than the right of payment. General drawing rights are the most basic ordinary loans provided by the IMF to meet the short-term funding needs of recipient countries (regions) due to balance of payments deficits. Special drawing rights are allocated according to the proportion of members' subscribed shares in the IMF. The allocated special drawing rights can withdraw foreign exchange through the IMF and can be used as members' reserves together with gold and foreign exchange. Therefore, they are also Called "paper gold". The Special Drawing Rights were worth US$1 when they were created. After July 1, 1974, a basket of 16 currencies was used for valuation. After January 1, 1981, five currencies were used for valuation: US dollars, marks, francs, pounds sterling and yen. After the euro was officially issued on January 1, 2002, it was denominated in four currencies: the US dollar, the euro, the British pound and the Japanese yen.

In terms of financial accommodation, we will expand financial accommodation to developing countries. The International Monetary Fund uses the proceeds from the sale of gold to establish a trust fund to provide loans to the poorest developing countries on preferential terms; it increases the Fund's loan limit from 100 to 145 of each member's subscribed share, and increases the Fund's "exports" The proportion of "fluctuation compensation loans" in the quota increased from 50 to 75 of members' subscribed quota. After the Jamaica Conference, the international monetary system entered a new era. It is reflected in three aspects: diversification of international reserves, diversification of exchange rate systems, and diversification of balance of payments adjustments.