Secretary Clinton courtesy of Wikipedia
Originally posted on Tuesday, February 25th, 2014
Hillary Clinton is a Democratic Party titan, co-chair of a powerhouse philanthropy, former Secretary of State and United States Senator, and former FLOTUS (First Lady of the United States), among other things. It is interesting that, in 1999, while First Lady, Mrs. Clinton made some Remarks at the Sorbonnereferencing the world monetary system.
She reportedly stated that
“We have lived with the benefits, for 50 years now, of the agreements that were made at the end of WWII, coming out of Bretton Woods to create new financial architectures. Today, we have outlived the usefulness of that particular set of arrangements. And we now have to face up to creating a new architecture that will help us tackle runaway global capitalism’s worst effects; ensure social safety nets for the most vulnerable; address the debt burden that is crushing many of our poorest nations.”
These are remarks atypical for a First Lady.
They clearly signal a keen intellect — implicitly referencing the world monetary and financial system’s importance for the economy. They candidly present her commitment to social democracy.
They elide the fact that while Bretton Woods’ World Bank and IMF persist, its fundamental architecture of a gold-exchange standard unilaterally was abrogated by the United States on August 15, 1971.
More to the point, while pointing to noble objectives they do not address what “new architecture” she might have in mind. They are just the opening for a conversation that gold standard proponents, should she resume her public career, very much should welcome.
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