The International Monetary Fund is an important function that makes world trade less strenuous. The International Monetary Fund, or IMF as it is called, provides support and supervision to nations in all stages of economic progress. International trade is a key element to enable nations, large and small, to strengthen their economic positions. Larger nations need the international market to export their goods and services, and smaller nations also need this world scale market to import products so they are able to produce more efficiently. In order to achieve these goals, one major component must be in place. The ability to value other nation's currency. Throughout the years, many different ways have been used to do this, mostly ending in failure. There is no perfect way to accurately measure the true value of another country's currency. The International Monetary Fund is an effort to see each country's economic position, offer suggestions, and provide the fundamental economic security that is essential to a thriving (world) economy. Many of the domestic economic goals are reiterated by the INF on an international level.

The IMF shortly after the discovery of the need for new currency exchange values were evident decided to change its policies. Each country was now able to define its own currency with a few exceptions. First, the nation couldn't be equated with gold. Second, the IMF had to know exactly how each country calculated the value of its currency. There were and still are many different ways to accomplish this. The free float method (a capitalistic market system, where currency is freely exchanged), the managed float method (similar to the free float, were the government buys or sells large quantities of its own currency to effect the value), or it may be pegged to another nations currency (a direct relationship to another country's currency value). There are other ways to define currency, the former methods are, by far, the most common. By this change in policy, the IMF actually has more control, now the IMF has intimate knowledge of other country's economic systems. This knowledge is key in improving international trade and the ultimate well-being of all nations.

For many years the Bretton Woods adjustable-peg system worked well. This system became more and more dependent of the United States currency's value. Since from the inception of the IMF in 1946 the United States government would exchange currency so that one ounce of gold equaled 35 US dollars. As more and more people found that 1 ounce of gold for 35 dollars was bargain, the supply of gold and US dollars became scarce (many people were trading their US dollars for gold). Eventually the general census of the world did not value 1 ounce of gold to 35 US dollars. The value of the US dollar was now in question on an international scale. In 1970, the United States declared that it would no longer offer 35 dollars for an ounce of gold. The Bretton Woods system, that grew to value the entire economic exchange values on the stability of the US dollar now lost its basic component. What to do now? A new system of international currency exchange values was inevitable.

The utilization of this newly obtained knowledge is known as surveillance. This surveillance allows the IMF to supervise the economic policies of countries, mostly the ones who are borrowing funds. And assure that funds of the IMF will be paid back in a timely fashion, so that other countries are able to take advantage of borrowing power in their time of need.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Monetary Fund, Bretton Woods, Gold Standard, Executive Directors, Fund IMF, Board Governors, SDRs SDR's, Interim Committee, Board IMF, Standard Nations, monetary fund, international monetary fund, international monetary, gold standard, ounce gold, borrowing country, economic policy, sdr units, economic position, 35 dollars, exchange values, major convertible currency, nation's voting power, spending aggregate income, nation's economic position,
Approximate Word count = 2513
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)