Robert Triffin
| Robert Triffin | |
|---|---|
| Born |
5 October 1911 Flobecq, Belgium |
| Died | February 23, 1993 (aged 81) Ostend, Belgium |
| Nationality | Belgian American |
| Institution | Yale University |
| Alma mater |
Harvard University Catholic University of Leuven |
| Doctoral advisor |
Edward Chamberlin Wassily Leontief |
| Academic advisors |
John D. Black Léon H. Dupriez Edwin F. Gay Frank Knight Henry Schultz Joseph Schumpeter Paul van Zeeland |
| Doctoral students |
Béla Balassa |
| Contributions | Triffin's dilemma |
Robert Triffin (5 October 1911 – 23 February 1993) was a Belgian American economist best known for his critique of the Bretton Woods system of fixed currency exchange rates. His critique became known later as Triffin's dilemma.
After completing his undergraduate studies at the Catholic University of Leuven, Triffin, a Francophone Belgian, went to the US and received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1938 and taught there from 1939 until 1942. He held positions in the US Federal Reserve System (1942–1946), the International Monetary Fund (1946–1948), and the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (1948–1951), now the OECD. In 1951, he became a professor of economics at Yale University, where he also served as Master of Berkeley College from 1969 until 1977.
Triffin became a US citizen in 1942. He reclaimed his Belgian citizenship in 1977 and returned to reside in Europe. There, he was a staunch supporter of European integration and helped to develop the European Monetary System and supported the concept of a central bank, which developed as the European Central Bank.
In 1960, Triffin testified before the United States Congress and warned of serious flaws in the Bretton Woods system. 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.
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