The Case for a New Bretton Woods

Despite the wake-up call of the 2008-9 Global Financial Crisis, the institutions tasked with governing the world economy have failed to promote stability, social inclusion and sustainability. After the crash, reforms were promised but not delivered, and, as a result, the global economic situation, marred by inequality, volatility and climate breakdown, remains dysfunctional. Now, the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic offers us a second chance. This book argues that we must grasp it by implementing sweeping reforms to how we govern global money, finance and trade. Without global leaders prepared to boldly rewrite the rules to promote a prosperous, just and sustainable post-COVID world economic order – a Bretton Woods moment for the 21st century – our future will look even darker than the present. Outlining a mixture of specific reforms to the existing framework and more radical departures from the status quo, the authors provide a blueprint for change that no-one interested in the future of our planet can afford to miss.