💹 Major Developments in the International Monetary System

📈 The correct chronological sequence of the major developments in the international monetary system:

🪙 Specie Commodity Standard (Pre-19th century): The earliest form, where money was backed by a physical commodity such as gold or silver, often in coin form.

🥇 Gold Standard (19th century – early 20th century): Countries fixed their currencies to a specific amount of gold. It was formalized in the 1870s and collapsed in the 1930s during the Great Depression.

⚖️ Classical Gold Standard (1870s – 1914): Countries fixed the value of their currencies in terms of a specific amount of gold. This system collapsed during World War I.

💷 Gold Exchange Standard (Interwar Period, especially 1920s – 1930s): A modified version of the gold standard where currencies were pegged to either gold or to a currency convertible into gold, such as the British pound or U.S. dollar.

💵 Fixed Parity System (Bretton Woods System, post-WWII – 1971): Established after World War II, this system fixed exchange rates against the U.S. dollar, which was convertible to gold. It led to the creation of the IMF and the World Bank.

🏛️ Smithsonian Arrangement (1971): An attempt to preserve fixed exchange rates after the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. It was a temporary measure and soon failed.

🌍 Floating Rate Regime (Post-1973 – Present): After the failure of fixed exchange systems, countries allowed their currencies to float freely in the market, determined by supply and demand.

🤝 Louvre Accord (1987): An agreement among major industrialized nations to stabilize the international currency markets and halt the decline of the U.S. dollar following the Plaza Accord (1985).

🇪🇺 European Union (Formally established in 1993): The EU led to deeper economic integration among European nations, eventually resulting in the formation of the Eurozone and the adoption of a common currency.