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One of the most remarkable aspects of the IMF was what, in theory, it was supposed to accomplish when it was established – and how quickly it departed from this initial vision.
国际货币基金组织最举世瞩目的方面之一，是它在成立之初理论上应该实现什么样的目标，以及它又如何迅速偏离了这个最初的愿景。
The creation of the IMF was agreed at the Bretton Woods Conference of July 1944, when representatives from more than 40 countries met to rewrite the rules of the world economy.
1944年7月，来自40多个国家的代表在布雷顿森林会议上商定成立国际货币基金组织，旨在重写世界经济规则。
Led by the world-famous British economist John Maynard Keynes and his US counterpart Harry Dexter White, their aim was to create an international monetary system that stabilised currencies and facilitated a return to freer trade.
会议由举世闻名的英国经济学家约翰·梅纳德·凯恩斯和美国经济学家亨利·迪克特·怀特领导，他们的目标是创建一个国际货币体系，以稳定货币并推动自由贸易回归。
National currencies would be set at fixed but adjustable rates to the dollar, which was in turn convertible to gold at a fixed rate of $35 per ounce.
固定各国货币对美元的汇率，但汇率可进行调整，而美元又以每盎司35美元的固定汇率兑换黄金。
The role of the IMF in this system was to help member states suffering from short-term balance-of-payments problems, while its partner organisation, the World Bank, made long-term loans for reconstruction and development.
国际货币基金组织在这一体系中的作用是对遭受短期国际收支问题的成员国提供帮助，而其伙伴组织世界银行则是为重建和发展提供长期贷款。
Crucially, in this original vision, the IMF would help members weather financial instability without browbeating them into undertaking painful policies such as cutting budgets or raising interest rates in the middle of a recession.
关键是，最初的设想是，国际货币基金组织将帮助成员国平安度过金融不稳定时期，不胁迫成员国采取痛苦的政策，比如在经济衰退期间削减预算或提高利率。
This marked a break with the previous gold standard system, which from the late 19th century had provided predictable and stable exchange rates for countries that kept the value of their currencies fixed to a specific quantity of gold.
这标志着与先前的金本位制(以黄金为本位币的货币制度)进行决裂，从19世纪末开始，一些国家将本国货币价值与特定数量的黄金挂钩，而金本位制为这些国家提供了可预测和稳定的汇率。
This stability had come at the cost of being able to implement expansive national economic policies during a crisis.
这种稳定是以国家在经济危机期间实施扩张性经济政策为代价的。
By contrast, officials involved in the creation of the IMF insisted that it avoid developing what Keynes referred to as “grandmotherly powers”, meaning finger-wagging, moralising strictures that unduly curtailed the freedom of member states.
相比之下，参与创建国际货币基金组织的官员们坚持主张，要避免发展凯恩斯所指的“祖母式权力”，也就是说，避免训诫说教、苛责批评，过度限制成员国的自由。
Shortly after the end of the second world war, however, European representatives in the IMF’s executive board discovered that – despite an apparent wartime consensus shared by their more powerful US counterparts – the IMF was going to readopt an unpopular practice associated with earlier periods of financial imperialism: attaching policy conditions to its loans.
然而，二战结束后不久，国际货币基金组织执行董事会中的欧洲代表发现——尽管更有影响力的美国代表在战时明显达成了共识——该组织仍将采取一种与早期金融帝国主义有关的不受欢迎的做法: 对其贷款附加政策条件。
To their chagrin, the institution would be authorised to intervene in sensitive domestic matters concerning fiscal and monetary decisions.
令他们气愤的是，该机构将获得授权对与财政货币决策有关的敏感国内事务进行干预。
