Les accords de Bretton Woods (document en anglais)

The aim of this essay is to analyze the evolution of the relation between states and markets since 1944. The first part will discuss the growing liberalism after World War II in 1944 and how the State is a regulator more than an actor in markets. The second part will discuss about the growing interlinking between the two actors with the settling of economics agreements for example.

Indeed, if states are willing to cooperate and to sign agreements, it’s sometimes harder to apply it to the scale of their own economy. We can think of all the form of protectionism: tariff barriers, quotas restriction, governments subsidies, norms of construction. Trade agreements are made to avoid protectionism to the maximum and make a fair trade (no free rider), is a new “ prisoner’s dilemma” according to the Nash invention. Everyone must cooperate but does not, so the GATT created an instance to regulate the conflicts. The GATT led the way to circles of negotiation that deals with tariff barriers, laws on agriculture, crate new institutions in the GATT and make easier the trade between countries, from the Kennedy Round to the Uruguay Round

After the creation of the GATT, we can notice a raise of economic trade agreements in the international stage thanks to a rising liberalization. First, the GATT who was ad hoc, let place to the WTO, the World Trade Organization with its permanent agreements and deals with trade in goods, services and intellectual property. The relation between Sates and markets become more and more definite thanks to the economic agreements on trade that create a set of rules that countries have to follow. The first meeting of the WTO is in Singapore in 1996 where the 142 members discuss the establishment of permanent working group on 4 issues to ameliorate international trade. What lead the negotiations is that the separation of economics and politics is wanted. This led to the creation of regionalism with different degrees of integration such as a Fair trade area or a customs union. Those agreements created a greater cooperation with other international organization and a permanent and comprehensive international organization with the IMF and the World Bank, both created by the GATT in 1947. But if States do sign the agreements and agree with it, there is some contestation of liberalism , like in the conflict in Seattle with protestation against the growing liberalization of the economy. Also, the fact that countries accept to open their economy to the global market create a great risk in case of crisis due to the fact that every countries are related and interdependent from another. Trade is highly international and source of conflicts, that are the reason why State have to intervene to settle rules to pacify the relation with the market: trade is a new kind of policy tool. We can deny the idea of M.Weber who told that State wasn’t necessary in the economy because today both are closely linked.

To conclude, we can say that liberalization of trade since 1944 created a international market where State, though agreements, regulate it and control it thank to economic agreements. It’s an interdependency relation that became possible with all the international economical organization, initiated by Bretton Woods in 1944 and continued with WTO in 1995.

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