Bretton Woods agreement and system was instituted because of the desire to reconstruct the global economy that had been decimated by trade conflicts and the Great Depression. Since then, the Bretton Woods institutions have confronted challenges as they attempt to make significant contributions to the global economic agenda. The limitation of Bretton Woods has been exposed by China’s economic emergence and the contemporary global economic realities.
Bretton Woods has reached its limits due to challenging contemporary global economic realities. The Bretton Woods institutions have undergone significant institutional and structural changes since their inception (Falkowski, 2019). However, the institutions have had to grapple with challenging economic realities since the 2008 global financial crisis. Critics of the Bretton Woods institutions claim that they increase income inequalities among nations. Importantly, the lending practices do not benefit genuine recipients in impoverished countries. The institutions oversee neoliberal policies that support illicit financial flows to offshore financial holdings, leaving poor countries with rising budget shortfalls. In this manner, the legitimacy crisis is exposing Bretton Woods’ limits and the ability to cope with changing economic demand realities across the globe.
China’s economic emergence and the shift away from the United States’ dominance have equally exposed Bretton Woods’s limitation. According to Falkowski (2019), the pillars of the Bretton Woods systems have consistently been controlled by the United States and Europe since its creation. However, the economic rise of China is eliciting concerns about whether the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are still relevant in the 21st century. Per Mazumdaru (2019), China’s economic rise manifested when it began establishing multilateral entities like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank. As such, the creation of the multilateral agencies has elicited speculation on the exact economic intentions of China, as well as the efficiency of the Bretton Woods system. As follows, China’s economic emergence is threatening the economic efficacy of the World Bank and IMF.
The Bretton Woods system is confronted by challenges relating to the present-day global economic realities and the rise of China as an economic powerhouse. Foremost, the loans and grants provided by World Bank and IMF do not actually benefit citizens of impoverished nations. Instead, the nations are grappling with massive budget deficits due to illicit financial cash flows. Further, China’s establishment of multilateral entities is fuelling debates about whether Bretton Woods is still relevant to address emerging economic issues.
Reference
Falkowski, D. (2019). Bretton Woods agreement encourages free trade. Salem Press Encyclopedia, 1-5.
Mazumdaru, S. (2019). Bretton Woods at 75: Has the system reached its limits? Deutsche Welle. Retrieved from https://www.dw.com/en/bretton-woods-at-75-has-the-system-reached-its-limits/a-49687599.