{{short description|American/Belgian economist (1911–1993)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}} {{Infobox economist | honorific_prefix = Baron | name = Robert Triffin | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date |1911|10|5|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Flobecq, Belgium]] | death_date = {{death date and age |df=yes|1993|2|23|1911|10|5}} | death_place = [[Ostend, Belgium]] | institution = [[Yale University]] <!-- or: | institutions = --> | field = | school_tradition = | alma_mater = [[Harvard University]]<br>[[Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)|Catholic University of Leuven]] | doctoral_advisor = [[Edward Chamberlin]]<br>[[Wassily Leontief]] | academic_advisors = [[John D. Black]]<br>[[Léon H. Dupriez]]<br>[[Edwin Francis Gay|Edwin F. Gay]]<br>[[Frank Knight]]<br>[[Henry Schultz]]<br>[[Joseph Schumpeter]]<br>[[Paul van Zeeland]] | doctoral_students = [[Béla Balassa]] | notable_students = | influences = | influenced = | contributions = [[Triffin's dilemma]] | awards = }}
'''Robert, Baron Triffin''' (5 October 1911 – 23 February 1993) was a [[Belgian Americans|Belgian-American]] [[economist]] best known for his critique (referred to as [[Triffin dilemma|Triffin's dilemma]]) of the [[Bretton Woods system]] of [[Fixed exchange rate system|fixed exchange rates]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web|last1=Nasar|first1=Sylvia|title=Robert Triffin, 81, an Economist Who Backed Monetary Stability |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/27/nyregion/robert-triffin-81-an-economist-who-backed-monetary-stability.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=29 April 2016|date=27 February 1993}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Maes |first=Ivo |last2=and Pasotti |first2=Ilaria |date=2025 |title=Robert Triffin’s analysis of the role of sterling in the international monetary system |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/09672567.2025.2509527 |journal=The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought |doi=10.1080/09672567.2025.2509527 |issn=0967-2567|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==Life== Triffin was born in 1911 in [[Flobecq]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Biography |url=https://www.triffininternational.eu/robert-triffin/biography |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=Robert Triffin International |language=en-gb}}</ref> In 1929, he enrolled at the Faculty of Law of the [[Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)|Catholic University of Leuven]], to study [[law]] and [[philosophy]]; in 1934, he also began studying [[economics]], and graduated in 1935.<ref name=":1" /> As a student, he was active in [[Progressivism|progressive]] [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] circles, and developed [[Pacifism|pacifist]] convictions.<ref name=":1" /> In 1935, Triffin received a scholarship from the [[Belgian American Educational Foundation]], and moved to the United States, where he studied at [[Harvard University]] and received a [[Doctorate|doctoral degree]] in economics in 1938.<ref name=":1" />
He taught at Harvard till 1942, and became a [[Citizenship of the United States|naturalised citizen of the United States]] that year.<ref name=":0" /> He held positions in the US [[Federal Reserve System]] (1942–1946), the [[International Monetary Fund]] (1946–1948), and the [[OECD|Organisation for European Economic Co-operation]] (1948–1951), and helped administer the [[Marshall Plan]] while serving in the [[Economic Cooperation Administration]].<ref name=":1" /> In 1951, he became a professor of economics at [[Yale University]], where he also served as Master of [[Berkeley College (Yale University)|Berkeley College]] from 1969 until 1977.<ref name=":1" />
In 1977, Triffin returned to reside in [[Europe]], where he was a staunch supporter of [[European integration]] and helped to develop the [[European Monetary System]].<ref name=":1" /> He also supported the development of the [[European Central Bank]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> In 1989, he was made a [[Belgian nobility#Barons|baron]] by [[Baudouin of Belgium|King Baudouin]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/39700/chapter-abstract/339710666?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=academic.oup.com|doi=10.1093/oso/9780190081096.003.0007 |title=Epilogue |date=2021 |last1=Maes |first1=Ivo |pages=193–196 |isbn=978-0-19-008109-6 }}</ref>
==Bretton Woods critique== In 1959, Triffin testified before the [[United States Congress]] and warned of serious flaws in the [[Bretton Woods system]].<ref name=":2">{{cite book |last= Triffin |first=Robert |chapter=By the Way of Introduction (Statement to the Joint Economic Committee of the 87th Congress (Washington, 28 October 1959)); The International Monetary Position and Policy of the United States |title=Gold and the Dollar Crisis; The Future of Convertibility |publisher=Yale University Press |place=New Haven |pages=3–14 |via= Internet Archive}}</ref> His theory was based on observing the [[dollar glut]], or the accumulation of the [[United States dollar]] outside the US. Under the Bretton Woods system, the US had pledged to convert dollars into [[gold]], but by the early 1960s, the glut had caused more dollars to be available outside the US than gold was in its Treasury.<ref name=":0" />
In the post-war era, the US had to run deficits on the current account of the [[balance of payments]] to supply the world with dollar reserves that kept [[liquidity]] for their increased wealth.<ref name=":3">Wolf, M. [https://www.business24-7.ae/Articles/2009/12/Pages/26122009/12272009_b60d075ae8834ca981282abc0ee85802.aspx "Do we need a reserve currency?"] Accessed 4 January 2010. {{failed verification|date=October 2018}}</ref>
However, running continuing deficits on the current account of the balance of payments resulted in an ever-increasing stock of overseas-held dollars, eroding confidence in the belief that the dollar would remain convertible into gold at the Bretton Woods parity rate of $35 per ounce.<ref name=":0" />
Triffin predicted that the system would not be able to maintain both liquidity and confidence, a theory later to be known as the [[Triffin dilemma]].<ref name=":2" /> His idea was largely ignored until 1971, when his [[hypothesis]] became reality, forcing US President [[Richard Nixon]] to halt convertibility of the United States dollar into [[gold]], an initiative known colloquially as the [[Nixon Shock]], which effectively ended the [[Bretton Woods system#Late Bretton Woods System|Bretton Woods System]].<ref name=":3" />
{{Blockquote|A fundamental reform of the international monetary system has long been overdue. Its necessity and urgency are further highlighted today by the imminent threat to the once mighty U.S. dollar.|Robert Triffin<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/center/mm/eng/mm_sc_03.htm |title=System in Crisis (1959–1971) |work=Money Matters: An IMF Exhibit – The Importance of Global Cooperation |publisher=International Monetary Fund |access-date=6 April 2006 }}</ref>|}}
==Bibliography== *''Monopolistic Competition and General Equilibrium Theory'', 1940. *"National central banking and the international economy", 1947, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System. *''Europe and the Money Muddle'', 1957. *''Gold and the Dollar Crisis: The future of convertibility'', 1960. *''Statistics of Sources and Uses of Finance, 1948–1958'', with Stuvel et al., 1960. *"Intégration économique européenne et politique monetaire", 1960, ''Revue Econ Politique'' *''The Evolution of the International Monetary System: historical appraisal and future perspectives'', 1964. *''The World Money Maze: National currencies in international payments'', 1966. *''Our International Monetary System: Yesterday, today and tomorrow'', 1968. *"The Thrust of History in International Monetary Reform", 1969, ''Foreign Affairs'' *"The Use of SDR Finance for Collectively Agreed Purposes", ''BNLQR'' *"The international role and fate of the dollar", 1978, ''Foreign Affairs'' *"The European Monetary System: Tombstone or cornerstone?", in: ''The international monetary system: forty years after Bretton Woods. Proceedings of a conference held at Bretton Woods, N.H., May 1984'', 1984 *"The future of the European Monetary System and the ECU", 1984, ''CEPS Papers'' *" The international accounts of the United States and their impact upon the rest of the world", 1985, ''BNLQR'' *"Une Banque Monétaire Européenne avec des fonctions de banque centrale", 1986, ''Répères, Bulletin Économique et Financier'' *"L'avenir du système monétaire et financier international : gestion de crises chroniques ou réformes fondamentales?", 1986, ''Répères, Bulletin Économique et Financier'' *"The IMS (International Monetary System ... or Scandal?) and the EMS (European Monetary System)", 1987, ''BNLQR'' *"The European Monetary System in the World Economy", 1989, ''Rivista di politica economica'' *"L'interdépendance du politique et de l'économique dans le scandale monétaire mondial : diagnostic et prescription", 1989, ''Répères, Bulletin Économique et Financier'' *"The International Monetary System : 1949–1989", 1990, ''ECU Newsletter Torino''.
==Honors== *Honorary degree, [[University of Pavia]], 1991.
==See also== * [[Jacques van Ypersele de Strihou]] * [[Money doctor]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * Robert Triffin papers (MS 874). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library. [http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.0874] * "Triffin, Robert." Britannica Book of the Year, 1994. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 6 Apr. 2006 <http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9113363>. * {{cite web| url=http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/center/mm/eng/mm_sc_03.htm | title = System in Crisis (1959-1971) | work = Money Matters: An IMF Exhibit – The Importance of Global Cooperation | publisher = International Monetary Fund | access-date=6 April 2006}} * [https://archives.eui.eu/en/fonds/191110?key=RT Archives by Robert Triffin] may be consulted at the [https://www.eui.eu/Research/HistoricalArchivesOfEU/Index.aspx Historical Archives of the European Union] in Florence, Italy
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Triffin, Robert}} [[Category:1911 births]] [[Category:1993 deaths]] [[Category:Walloon people]] [[Category:Belgian emigrants to the United States]] [[Category:Yale University faculty]] [[Category:Harvard University faculty]] [[Category:Harvard University alumni]] [[Category:20th-century Belgian economists]] [[Category:Catholic University of Leuven alumni]]