SDRs were created in 1969 to support the Bretton Woods fixed exchange rate system.

FORBES: What Happens in a World Without Dollars?

But then, President Nixon took the dollar off that fixed exchange rate system, and it's very hard to imagine how we could go back there now.

NPR: Global Summit Takes On Economic Turmoil

The balance of payments and exchange rates were making news, and the slow break-up of the Bretton Woods fixed-exchange rate system was under way.

FORBES: Farewell to James Parthemos (Richmond Fed Research Director)

Like any fixed exchange-rate system, a currency board offers the prospect of a stable exchange rate, which can promote both trade and investment.

ECONOMIST: The ABC of a currency board

The SDR was created in 1969, during the Bretton Woods fixed exchange-rate system, because of concerns that there was insufficient liquidity to support global economic activity.

ECONOMIST: China suggests an end to the dollar era

The country's current foreign-exchange system, which involves a fixed "official" exchange rate that makes the currency, the kyat, more than 100 times as valuable against the dollar as the black-market rate, is so confusing that many foreign companies have refused to re-enter the country even if Western leaders ease sanctions against Myanmar, the country also known as Burma, as expected later this year.

WSJ: Myanmar Announces Currency Reform