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Legacies and innovations in global economic governance since Bretton Woods

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  • Orfeo Fioretos
  • Eugénia C. Heldt

Abstract

The international economic system that emerged after the 1944 Bretton Woods conference became the most durable international arrangement devoted to economic openness. Seventy-five years after the conference, however, global shifts in power, institutional gridlock, and populist backlash figure prominently in accounts predicting the system’s demise. This article examines the legacies of the Bretton Woods conference for structures and practices of global economic governance and innovations that emerged over time to adapt the system to new political and economic circumstances. It explores how and why the Bretton Woods system became a more variegated system over time with respect to four features of governance: membership, legalization, organizational focality, and market embeddedness. It identifies sources and effects of expanding membership in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, the emergence of new formal and informal institutions, the challenges of a more fragmented institutional landscape, and shifts in the underlying principles of economic governance. Finally, the article discusses lessons from past crises in and reforms to the Bretton Woods system, and their implications for understanding recent challenges to global economic cooperation.

Suggested Citation

  • Orfeo Fioretos & Eugénia C. Heldt, 2019. "Legacies and innovations in global economic governance since Bretton Woods," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(6), pages 1089-1111, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:rripxx:v:26:y:2019:i:6:p:1089-1111
    DOI: 10.1080/09692290.2019.1635513
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    Cited by:

    1. Frank Biermann & Thomas Hickmann & Carole-Anne Sénit & Marianne Beisheim & Steven Bernstein & Pamela Chasek & Leonie Grob & Rakhyun E. Kim & Louis J. Kotzé & Måns Nilsson & Andrea Ordóñez Llanos & Chu, 2022. "Scientific evidence on the political impact of the Sustainable Development Goals," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 5(9), pages 795-800, September.
    2. Alexander Kentikelenis & Erik Voeten, 2021. "Legitimacy challenges to the liberal world order: Evidence from United Nations speeches, 1970–2018," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 721-754, October.
    3. Eugénia C. Heldt & Patrick A. Mello & Anna Novoselova & Omar Ramon Serrano Oswald, 2022. "Persistence Against the Odds: How Entrepreneurial Agents Helped the UN Joint Inspection Unit to Prevail," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 13(2), pages 235-246, May.
    4. Susan Park, 2021. "Policy Norms, the Development Finance Regime Complex, and Holding the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to Account," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S4), pages 90-100, May.
    5. Bayari, Celal, 2020. "The Neoliberal Globalization Link to the Belt and Road Initiative: The State and State-Owned-Enterprises in China [alternative title: Bilateral and Multilateral Dualities of the Chinese State in the C," MPRA Paper 104471, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 21 Jul 2020.
    6. Matti Ylönen & Ringa Raudla & Milan Babic, 2024. "From tax havens to cryptocurrencies: secrecy-seeking capital in the global economy," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(2), pages 563-588, March.
    7. Eugenia C. Heldt & Thomas Dörfler, 2022. "Orchestrating private investors for development: How the World Bank revitalizes," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(4), pages 1382-1398, October.
    8. Susanne Lütz, 2021. "Global–Regional Realignments in Trade, Finance and Development: Introduction to the Special Issue," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S4), pages 5-13, May.
    9. Hang Luo & Lize Yang & Kourosh Houshmand, 2021. "Power Structure Dynamics in Growing Multilateral Development Banks: The Case of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(1), pages 24-39, February.

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