Dr. Kevin Gallagher, director of the Global Policy Center at Boston University and co-author of “The Case for a New Bretton Woods: Reforming Global Economic Governance for Prosperity and the Planet,” focuses on how The Bretton Woods Institutions which are the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF ), both Specialized UN agencies, were set up at a meeting of 43 countries in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA in July 1944. Their principal aims were to help rebuild the devastated postwar economy, promote international economic cooperation and reduce poverty. The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The IMF encourages international financial cooperation by introducing a system of convertible currencies at fixed exchange rates and extends loans to countries that are experiencing economic distress to avoid or reduce financial crises.