We highlight the elements of the operation of the U.S. Exchange Stabilization Fund that Harry Dexter White, who directed the Treasury's division of monetary research, transferred to his plan for the operation of the International Monetary Fund. The elements included the principle that all currencies were equivalent and the goal of the international fund, like that of the U.S. fund, was to stabilize exchange rates. The ESF also influenced White's vision for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The IBRD, however, represented a reaction by White against key elements of ESF stabilization loans, which were very short term, paid above market interest rates, and required collateral. Had White carried forward to the IMF the ESF elements pertaining to interest rates and collateral, its operations would have evolved in a markedly different direction from the one that it has taken.
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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number
8100.
Length: Date of creation: Jan 2001 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:8100
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Find related papers by JEL classification: B22 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Macroeconomics F33 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Monetary Arrangements and Institutions
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