In 1977 the Carter administration advocated and initiated the “ locomotive theory ” , which posits that big economies pull along their smaller brethren . Carter ’s theory asked for concessions from the smaller countries to benefit the U.S. for the high price the U.S. has incurred for their benevolence after the 1973-75 recession . The American initiative met with staunch German and Japanese resistance at first . In response , U.S. authorities let it be known that they would allow the dollar to depreciate against the dissenting countries ' currencies in the absence of macroeconomic stimuli . Eventually , Japanese prime minister Takeo Fukuda agreed to the U.S. stimulus request in late 1977 . A year later at the Bonn Economic Summit in July 1978 , German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt acceded to expansionary fiscal policy as a part of a package of mutual concessions
Bonn Economic Summit
4th G7 summit
Strong dollar policy