Bretton Woods Then and Now
Benn Steil, Senior Fellow and Director of International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
4:30pm -6:00pm | 008 Kemeny Hall
When turmoil strikes world monetary and financial markets, statesmen invariably call for “a new Bretton
Woods” to prevent catastrophic economic disorder and defuse political conflict. The very name of the remote New Hampshire town where representatives of 44 nations gathered in July 1944, in the midst of the century’s second great world war, has become shorthand
for enlightened globalization. The actual story surrounding the historic Bretton Woods accords, however, is full of startling drama, intrigue, and rivalry. Benn Steil will bring the saga to life, and talk about some of its lessons for understanding today’s
important economic debates.
Dr. Benn Steil is senior fellow and director of international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He is also the founding editor
of International Finance, a top scholarly economics journal, and co-writer of the Council’s Geo-Graphics economics blog. Prior to his joining the Council in 1999, he was director of the International Economics Programme at the Royal Institute of International
Affairs in London. He came to the Institute in 1992 from a Lloyd’s of London Tercentenary Research Fellowship at Nuffield College, Oxford, where he received his MPhil and DPhil (PhD) in economics. He also holds a BSc in economics summa cum laude from the
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Steil has written and spoken widely on international finance, monetary policy, economic history, and financial markets. He is a columnist for Dow
Jones’ Financial News and a regular op-ed contributor at the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times. His latest book, The Battle of Bretton Woods: John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White, and the Making of a New World Order, was called “a triumph of
economic and diplomatic history” by the Financial Times, “a superb history” by the Wall Street Journal, and “the gold standard on its topic” by the New York Times. His previous book, Money, Markets and Sovereignty, was awarded the 2010 Hayek Book Prize.
Financial Statecraft: The Role of Financial Markets in American Foreign Policy was named one of the “Best Business Books of 2006” by Library Journal and an “Outstanding Academic Title of 2006” by Choice.