Smithsonian Agreement

E245472

The Smithsonian Agreement was a 1971 international accord that restructured the postwar monetary system by devaluing the U.S. dollar and widening currency exchange rate bands, marking a key step away from the Bretton Woods gold standard.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
Smithsonian Accord 1
Smithsonian Agreement canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf currency realignment accord
international monetary agreement
treaty
aimedTo correct U.S. balance of payments disequilibrium
reduce trade imbalances among major economies
stabilize international exchange markets
alsoKnownAs Smithsonian Agreement
surface form: Smithsonian Accord
category 1971 in international relations
International economic history
Monetary reform
citySigned Washington, D.C.
countrySigned United States of America
surface form: United States
dateSigned 1971-12-18
fluctuationBandWidth ±2.25%
followed Nixon shock
historicalSignificance last major attempt to preserve a fixed exchange rate system based on the dollar
transitional step toward generalized floating exchange rates
introduced wider fluctuation margins around par values
limitedConvertibility U.S. dollar into gold
marked step away from Bretton Woods gold standard
negotiatedBy finance ministers of major industrial countries
negotiatedUnder auspices of the International Monetary Fund
auspices of the United States Treasury
participant Canada
France
Italy
Japan
Netherlands
United Kingdom
United States of America
surface form: United States

West Germany
participantGroup Group of Ten
partOf post–World War II international monetary system
placeSigned Smithsonian Institution
policyChange devaluation of the U.S. dollar
revaluation of major foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar
widening of exchange rate bands
predecessor Bretton Woods system
reformed fixed exchange rate system
relatedTo collapse of the gold exchange standard
end of the Bretton Woods system
restructured postwar monetary system
resultedIn higher official dollar price of gold
official devaluation of the dollar against gold
revaluation of other European currencies
revaluation of the Deutsche Mark
revaluation of the Japanese yen
supersededBy move to floating exchange rates in 1973
year 1971

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Nixon shock followedBy Smithsonian Agreement
Smithsonian Agreement alsoKnownAs Smithsonian Agreement
this entity surface form: Smithsonian Accord