expand, even though it has only become truly universal from the 1980s, following the total collapse in 1989 of the economic system aiming to rival it, based on the centralised planning of the economy. the bretton woods system was also able to overcome the challenge posed by the project ( or rather, the utopia, perhaps ) of the ‘ new international economic order ', put forward by the developing countries, following their political pronouncement at the bandung conference, which would gather great international prominence in the 1960s and ‘ 70s as a result of the work of the united nations conference on trade and development ( unctad ) and the political backing of the united nations general assembly. gatt faced this challenge without overlooking the importance of its central underlying theme – the specifics of the developing countries ’ situation – and was even able to adapt, as shown for example by the addition of part iv to gatt and the acceptance of the generalized system of preferences created under unctad. however, all this was done without compromising the core validity of its founding principles. while reforming the monetary system proved impossible – and the bretton woods monetary system collapsed irreversibly in 1971 – reform of international trade was nevertheless achievable, shown by the creation of the wto at the uruguay round. the creation of the wto, as i wrote about many years ago, was an ending as well as a beginning. an ending, in that it marked the completion of a long journey and the ultimate materialisation of the vision of the bretton woods ideologues, who did not manage to build the international trade organization in their time. a beginning, since the defining of a single institutional framework to administrate trade relations between members in domains as vast as those covered by the set of agreements concluded under the uruguay round in fact marked the start of a new phase. for example, the path was 2 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches cleared for the first time for financial services to be included in a multilateral trading system, through the conclusion of the general agreement on trade in services ( gats ). in turn, the strengthening of the dispute settlement system increased expectations of the prevalence of law over sheer power, also helping to depoliticise and dedramatise matters of international trade. it was a new framework, therefore, that justified high expectations, but also held significant risk of disappointment, in a context in which the great changes, at all levels, in world trade were

, or, worse still, by the disorderly overlapping of states ’ unilateral actions. 7. many of these issues will be debated in this symposium, which will surely be a great success. impressed by advances in technology, which surprise us every day and open up new possibilities that were unimaginable before, we tend to underestimate the power of ideas, of knowledge in its broadest sense, of beliefs and of institutions. nothing could be further from the truth. there is no greater power than that which originates from these factors, as it is they that will ultimately decide the direction taken by technological progress. in a recent book, stephen d. king states that “ globalisation is driven not just by technological advance, but also by the development of the ideas and institutions that form our politics, frame our economies and fashion our financial systems both locally and globally. when existing ideas are undermined and institutional infrastructures implode, no amount of new technology is likely to save the day. " that seems to me a key insight into our current problems. i wish everyone two days of intense and fruitful discussion. thank you very much for your attention. 4 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches