... its rise and the state of affairs as we see them today, in what is a truly integrated market. The International Economic Order was set up originally as a response to the expansion in trade and underpinned by a system of stable exchange rates. It has been designed to avoid the perceived rigidities associated with the nineteenth century Gold Standard and the experience of large, undisciplined currency manipulations which had come to the fore especially during the Great Depression in the late twenties and early thirties. It was conceived as being a conscious effort to reduce the impediments to direct foreign investment, displaying the neo-liberalist tendencies that would carry much of international relations forward over large parts of the ensuing century. The evidence of the following years however, was one of growth in financial swings and the hedging of legitimate business risks versus pure gambling. There is no doubt that this was ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now