Allan H. Meltzer, John M. Olin Professor of Political Economy and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, discusses U.S. international economic policy during the Bretton Woods era. His article, which was presented in St. Louis on April 8, 1991, as the fifth annual Homer Jones Memorial Lecture, reviews the roles of the U.S. as the world’s strongest economy and the dollar as its reserve currency in a system of fixed exchange rates. Key within this review is the lack of consistency between U.S. monetary policy, which ultimately (although unofficially) was responsible for maintaining the fixed rate system and domestic policy objectives that often ran counter to this goal. By noting this conflict and other tensions within the Bretton Woods arrangements, Meltzer is able to trace the steps that led to the collapse of the fixed rate regime in 1973.