ABSTRACT
The international monetary system is the glue that binds national economies together; it is impossible to understand the operation of the international economy without understanding its monetary system. The 2008 financial crisis is a prime example of how international monetary and financial transactions can reshape the global economy. Four regimes have provided a degree of governance in international monetary relations: the classical gold standard from the 1870s to World War I, a gold exchange standard during the first part of the interwar period, the Bretton Woods system from 1944 to 1973, and a mixed system of floating and fixed exchange rates from 1973 to the present. This chapter also discusses European monetary relations and the European Union (EU) as a regional trade agreement.
