http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...P1c&refer=home

Bretton woods was a plan after world war 2 that allowed the US dollar to be used as the reserve currency of the world. Excess dollars could be traded for gold. Nixon nixed the plan and the gold standard during his presidency essentially saying that the dollar was worth whatever the government and federal reserve say it's worth(I separate the two to emphasize that the fed isn't government owned. Obviously bretton woods is more complex than the way I'm describing it but if you want more than the gist than do your own research and draw your own conclusions. There is a very thin line when discussing the sensitive issue of our bio-survival tickets(money). If they are reviewing the bretton woods system, that means they may not trust the dollar anymore.

http://www.eurodad.org/whatsnew/articles.aspx?id=2988

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um Bretton Woods hasn't been in effect since 1971 as you said... since Nixon permanently removed the U.S. from the gold standard unilaterally making bretton woods fall apart... the U.S. dollar is the de facto reserve currency, but this isn't written anywhere; it's just a matter of fact because so many nations hold their foreign reserves in dollars..

but I do wonder what sort of scheme the G7 will come up with today, or have come up with already as I believe the meeting is over. I don't want to imagine the consequences of doing what PM Berlusconi says, closing the world financial markets.. what even happens in that situation? I don't know...