The Gold Standard System
The gold standard monetary system was created in 1875 - previously countries would use gold and silver for international payments, which led to the problem of the metals' values fluctuating due to external supply and demand.
The gold standard guaranteed the conversion of currency into a specific amount of gold, and gold into a specific amount of currency. This resulted in governments having substantial gold reserves to meet foreign exchange demands.
This was the original Forex market - the first standardised method of currency exchange.
The gold standard lasted until the beginning of the First World War, when tension with Germany led the major European powers to complete large military projects. The financial burden of these military projects was so great that there was not enough gold to exchange for the excess money governments were printing.
Most countries had dropped the gold standard by World War II.
The Bretton Woods System
Before the end of World War II, the allied nations believed it was necessary to establish a monetary system to replace the gold standard system. In July 1944, over 7000 Allied representatives met at Bretton Woods to discuss a new system.
Bretton Woods resulted in a method of fixed exchange rates, the US dollar replacing the gold standard to become a primary reserve currency, and the creation of the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, all established to oversee economic activity.
As the USD replaced gold as the primary reserve currency, the USD became the only currency to be backed by gold. Over the next 25 years, the US ran a series of balance payment deficits to be the world's reserve currency and, by the early 1970s, US gold reserves were so low that the treasury did not have enough gold to cover all the US dollars that were in foreign reserves.
On August 15, 1971, President Richard Nixon announced that it would no longer exchange gold for the US dollars held in foreign reserves, which led to the end of the Bretton Woods system.
The current foreign exchange system
Following the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system, the world accepted the use of floating foreign exchange rates, leading to the permanent abolition of the gold standard.
However, most governments employ one of the three modern exchange rate systems: dollarization, pegged rate and managed floating rate.
Dollarization is when a country does not issue its own currency and adopts a foreign currency as its own. Although this makes a country seem more stable for foreign investment, the central bank can no longer make any monetary policy.
Pegged exchange rates occur when a country fixes its exchange rate to a foreign currency, meaning it has a set exchange rate with a single foreign currency, or a basket of foreign currencies. This means the currency will only fluctuate with the pegged currencies.
Managed floating rates are when a currency's foreign exchange rate freely changes subject to market forces. However, governments or central banks may intervene in the case of extreme fluctuations.
The current Forex market
Forex trading is a relatively new investment for individual investors and traders - from the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system in the 1970s until 1995 only banks and large corporations were able to trade Forex. Today the market is accessible to everyone, largely due to developments in technology. The growth in the Forex market has been unprecedented, and it is now the largest financial market in the world, with nearly USD4 trillion being traded a day.
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