Today’s chart explores how foreign exchange reserves of the world’s most powerful currencies have changed over the years – particularly the dollar.
First, some background. In July 1944, delegates from 44 countries negotiated the Bretton Woods System. The system pegged the U.S. dollar to gold and other currencies to the U.S. dollar. It was designed to stabilize currency values to create a more efficient and conducive environment for global trade and finance.
Bretton Woods elevated the dollar to reserve currency status. But it was the “petrodollar” that cemented the dollar’s status as the dominant global reserve currency. The “petrodollar” emerged in the …read more
