The period called the "Golden Age" was between 1950 and 1973. During this period there was rapid growth in the US economy, even the economies of Europe and Japan they had very high growth rates. The world's advanced countries have spurred a commodity boom that has benefited natural resource-rich countries such as the oil-rich Middle East, as well as the industrial nations of East Asia, i.e. Singapore, Thailand, China etc. The Bretton Woods Conference, which is officially known as the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, took place from July 1 to 22, 1944, in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States. This was a meeting of delegates from 44 different countries who met to try to formulate a set of new rules for the post-World War II international monetary system. Through this conference they hoped to restructure international financial and currency relations and prevent the economic disaster that contributed to the Great Depression of the 1930s. The conference achieved two important results by creating the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), which are still in use today. The two people most credited with having devised the plans for this Bretton Woods system are two of the most prominent economists of that era, the US Treasury Secretary, Harry Dexter White, and the British economist John Maynard Keynes. The Fund (IMF) was officially created when the first 29 member countries signed the Statute of the Agreement. it was formally established in December 1945, when the first 29 member countries signed its Charter. Its currency could deplete its international reserves, rendering it unable to continue strengthening the currency and potentially leaving it unable to meet its international obligations. References Books Eichengreen, B. (2007 ) The European Economy Since 1945: Co-ordinated Capitalism and Beyond, Princeton: Princeton University PressHeilbroner, R. and Milberg, W. (2008) The Making of Economic SocietyGlyn, A. (2006) Capitalism Unleashed, Oxford: Oxford University PressMarglin, S.A. and Schor, J.B. (1990) The Golden Age of Capitalism: Reinterpreting the post-war experience, Oxford: Oxford University PressWebPageshttp://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Golden_Age_of_Capitalismhttp://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/http:/ /web.worldbank.org/http://www.wisegeek.com/what-was-the-marshall-plan.htmhttp://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/366654/Marshall-Plan