The Summit
Economist John Maynard Keynes (left) and Harry D White in March 1946 ... “Booms and busts, the very things that Keynes and White wanted to rid the world of, have become regular parts of our lives as have the austerity policies to deal with them. Conway’s book is a fine and timely reminder that there are alternatives if the political will and the intellectual imagination can be found to grasp them.” Picture: Thomas D. Mcavoy/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
IN 1944, whilst war still raged in Europe and the Pacific, a group of economists, bankers and politicians gathered at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire. Their aim was to put in place a system for managing the international economy. Such a system, they hoped and believed, was necessary if the world was to avoid the type of economic crisis that had led it to war.
