To begin, we must examine the circumstances that surround the creation of the IMF, who the actors are and what each of their roles are as member countries. The IMF was created as a result of the worldwide market collapse that took place initially in October of 1929. The domino effect that took place when the first market crashed was seen to be a situation so severe that world powers felt that drastic measures needed to be taken to ensure that this was the last global financial crisis that the world would face. Its creation in 1944 was the beginning of a new era for the international financial system.

The creation of the IMF occurred at Bretton Woods along with the World Bank and the system of fixed exchange rates and the gold s

Financial flows were once controlled by a handful of major banks that could be easily corralled into restructuring problem loans in cooperation with relatively modest IMF assistance. In the late 1990s, however, flows were dominated by thousands of banks; securities firms; and mutual, pension, and hedge funds that could move capital in and out of countries with a click of a computer mouse. The number of countries seeking international investment, meanwhile, had proliferated, as had the diversity of debt, equity, and other financial instruments. This array of investors and instruments made coordinating any response to financial crises "extremely difficult," concluded Moody's Investors Service Inc., a major global credit-rating agency.

2. Simha, S.L.N., Gold and the International Monetary System

One of President John F. Kennedy's economic advisers warned, "[we] will not be able to sustain in the 1960s a world position without solving the balance of payments problem." This assessment proved to be accurate as U.S. efforts to meet its global responsibilities further damaged its balance of payments, undermining its ability to act as hegemon." The increase in U.S. deficits meant money was leaving the country and as such, it had to go somewhere. This is evidenced by the surpluses experienced by Japan and Western European countries, such as West Germany, which were growing rapidly. The surpluses, combined with the U.S. deficit, meant decreasing liquidity in the world economy, as the U.S., in its role as central banker to the world, had supplied much of the liquidity from its reserve assets, mainly gold.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Bretton Woods, Third World, War Furthermore, Eurodollar Eurocurrency, World Bank, IMF Western, Stanley Fisher, Latin American, International Development, War II, bretton woods, exchange rates, woods system, bretton woods system, balance payments, lender resort, gold standard, monetary system, international monetary, international monetary system, international lender, fall bretton, international lender resort, fall bretton woods, exchange rates gold,
Approximate Word count = 4063
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page double spaced)