The institution that these delegates created was very much  1  M. Wolf, "The World Needs a Tough and Independent Monetary Fund." U.K. Financial Times, (22 February 2006). BIS Review 26/2006  1  a creature of its time, and its roles and responsibilities reflected the experience of the Great Depression.
The great policy failure of the 1930s was the competitive "beggar-thy-neighbour" currency devaluations to which nations resorted. The Bretton Woods delegates sought to prevent countries from adopting such policies. The first of the Articles of Agreement that govern the IMF called on it "to promote international monetary co-operation through a permanent institution which provides the machinery for consultation and collaboration on international monetary problems."