Bretton Woods, NH

Place: Bretton Woods, NH

Weather: Scattered thunderstorms, 57/72F

Route: From Ripton 151 miles ENE on VT-125 E, VT-100 S, I-89 S, I-91 N, I-93 S, US-302 E.

Significance: Bretton Woods is a resort area and home to the Mount Washington Hotel, originally opened in 1902. Its main claim to fame is that it was the site of the Bretton Woods economic conference in July 1944.  The conference included representatives from 44 countries - all members of the Allies in World War II. D-Day was less than a month before the start of the conference - so the war was still 10 months from being over in Europe and over a year before Japan would surrender.  The main purpose of the conference was to establish the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and increase open markets.  It also established exchange rates, which at that time were pegged to the value of gold.  Many people view this conference as the beginning of "globalization" of our economy.  

Most people would say that overall that has been a success. Overall the average standard of living has improved around the world.  And economic partnerships between countries many times makes war less likely - and we haven't had anywhere near the level of conflict since WWII as we had before then.  Obviously there have been some losers in this system.  Manufacturing in the U.S. has decreased substantially - decreasing the percentage of people considered "middle income" and increasing economic disparities.

Image: 

 Mount Washington Hotel (from omnihotels.com)