The Santa Colomba Conclusions
While the 1960s saw Mundell predominantly building tools and concepts of how the open economy and the world economy function in the interaction of monetary and real factors, the 1970s and on were devoted to policy thinking. Here his work focused on two issues: a better international monetary system, taking the weight off an overburdened dollar and an overly special role of the US, and supply side economics.
With the apparent demise of the dollar standard, Mundell became a leader in thinking about exchange rate regimes and the world monetary system. Global monetarism was in the making. He opened a discussion (along with Robert Triffin) on how to restructure the world monetary system to address the three key questions at the time: confidence, liquidity and adjustment.
When the Bretton Woods system broke down in August 1971, a group of economists, bankers and officials periodically met at the Villa Santa Colomba outside Siena, Italy, to study the problem of reform of the international monetary system. The Chairman of the Conference was Robert Mundell.
The original publication of the Santa Colomba Conclusions showed the recommendations made a the time by the Conference, a lot of which contributed to shape the international monetary system as we know it today.