The Foundation of the Bretton-Woods Institutions and the Beginning Period of their Functioning from the Perspective of the Czechoslovakia (1944-1954)
| Author: | Mgr. Radka Rutarová |
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| Year: | 2002 - summer |
| Leaders: | doc. Ing. Karel Půlpán CSc. |
| Consultants: | |
| Work type: | Economic Policy Masters |
| Language: | Czech |
| Pages: | 112 |
| Awards and prizes: | M.A. with distinction from the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences for an excellent state-final examination performance |
| Link: | |
| Abstract: | During 1930's the world economy went through a deep economic and monetary crisis (Great Depression). The result of it was the growing international business regulations and protectionism, the declining movement of the international capital and the economic recession. On the monetary field the crisis led to the definitive end of the Gold standard, which was renewed after the World War I. Hence a period of the monetary chaos started. The dismal situation of the 1930's got even more complicated because of the World War II. A real break-through in this respect was the Monetary and Financial Conference of the United Nations, which took place in Bretton-Woods (USA) in June 1944. Thanks to this conference there was established the system of fixed exchange rates, which were expressed in gold or in American dollars. There were also introduced the so-called Bretton-Woods institutions -- the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). At beginning, one of the main tasks of the IMF was a coordination of the monetary policies of the member states. It also provided them the short-term loans to improve their payment balances and through this way the IMF took part on the renewal of the international business and on its balanced increase. The IBRD on the other hand should primary help with the reconstruction of the economies of its member states by offering them the long-term loans or eventually by guaranteeing them. The Czechoslovakia was also one of the founding members of the Bretton-Woods institutions. The relationship among the Czechoslovakia, the IMF and the IBRD looked quite promising at the beginning of their cooperation. But the political take-over in the Czechoslovakia on February 1948 changed these tendencies. The Czechoslovakia was finally excluded from both institutions at the end of 1954 because of repeatedly not performing the member state duties according to the Articles of Agreements of the IMF and IBRD. The main problem was that the Czechoslovakia was systematically refusing to inform about the development of the Czechoslovak economy and to consult the relevant monetary and economic arrangements. This is what the theme of my master thesis is about. In the first part, I analyze the activities of the IMF and IBRD during the period 1945-1954. Consequently I describe the evolution of the attitude of the Czechoslovakia towards these institutions in the same period. The main aim of this study is to refer to the connections of the exclusion of the Czechoslovakia from the Bretton-Woods institutions. |
| Downloadable: | Radka Rutarová |
