ABSTRACT
April 2000 summit brought a reflection of the basic elements of the Bretton Woods conference of July 1944 rather than an attempt at major change. The International Monetary Fund, Summers continued, should concentrate on “macroeconomic stabilization and the temporary financing of member countries with balance of payments difficulties.” The line between the two Bretton Woods institutions would thus be clarified. Former US treasury secretary Nicholas Brady commented succinctly on this issue at the convention of large banks in The Hague prior to the conference on Bretton Woods institutions. The presence of labor unions was greater than it had been in Seattle. They were primarily protesting against the liberalization of US foreign trade and against the expansion of trade relations with China. The United Auto Workers, the International Association of Machine Tool Industries, and the textile workers’ union brought about twenty thousand members to protest against the Bretton Woods institutions and trade with China.
