Economic Crisis and a New Bretton Woods: No Quick Fix

Is the world ready for a new Bretton Woods agreement? As the economic crisis deepened in recent months, a rising chorus of voices began to call for the replacement of the financial architecture put in place in 1944 at a small resort village in New Hampshire. In response, twenty governments hastily gathered in Washington in mid-November hoping to try to replicate the success of the original conference.Should we be surprised that little was achieved beyond the affirmation of a gaggle of lofty principles?