System Malfunction

The pre–World War I gold standard and the post–World War II Bretton Woods agreement were the last exemplars of a globally coordinated monetary system. Today, countries pursue their own fragmented interests, such as by stimulating their economies with lowered interest rates, without regard to the impacts on other nations or on their own long-term interests. Economist William R. White explains how “the present international monetary (non)system” works against the good of the global economic community. getAbstract recommends this brief but worthwhile article to policy makers, who should heed White on the need for a new postcrisis monetary system.