Precious metals intelligence

Bretton Woods and Gold

Bretton Woods structured the postwar global monetary system around fixed exchange rates pegged to a gold-convertible dollar.

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The 1944 design

44 nations met at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to anchor global currencies to the dollar at fixed rates while pegging the dollar to gold at $35 per ounce. The IMF and World Bank emerged from the same conference.

Why it broke

US balance-of-payments deficits and gold outflows made $35 unsustainable. The London Gold Pool collapsed in 1968, foreshadowing the 1971 closure of the gold window.

What remains

Bretton Woods institutions (IMF, World Bank) still operate. The gold standard part is gone, but the debate about a renewed gold-linked monetary system recurs in every major dollar-stress episode.

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MetalBrief publishes market information, tools, indicators, and educational context, not account-specific investment, legal, tax, or financial advice. FX conversions, macro proxies, headlines, RSI, support, resistance, and opportunity scores are derived unless labeled as market data.