ABSTRACT
Outside official circles, beginning in 1959, proposals for reform came to be directed at correcting three alleged weaknesses in the international monetary system. The first was a weakness in the adjustment mechanism to deal with payments disequilibria. The second was a weakness in the arrangements for the provision of a continuing and dependable growth in world international reserves. The third was a weakness inherent in a reserve currency system (the gold exchange standard), which exposed the reserve currency to lapses of confidence, leading to demands for conversion into gold.
