World War I created a set of forces that affected the political arrangements and economies of all the countries involved. This period in global economic history between World War I and II offers rich material for studying international monetary and sovereign debt policies. Debt and Entanglements between the Wars focuses on the experiences of the United States, United Kingdom, four countries in the British Commonwealth (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Newfoundland), France, Italy, Germany, and Japan, offering unique insights into how political and economic interests influenced alliances, defaults, and the unwinding of debts. The narratives presented show how the absence of effective international collaboration and resolution mechanisms inflicted damage on the global economy, with disastrous consequences.

The former dean of the Yale School of Management and Undersecretary of Commerce in the Clinton administration chronicles the 1971 August meeting at Camp David, where President Nixon unilaterally ended the last vestiges of the gold standard—breaking the link between gold and the dollar—transforming the entire global monetary system. Over the course of three days—from August 13 to 15, 1971—at a secret meeting at Camp David, President Richard Nixon and his brain trust changed the course of history. Before that weekend, all national currencies were valued to the U.S. dollar, which was convertible to gold at a fixed rate. That system, established by the Bretton Woods Agreement at the end of World War II, was the foundation of the international monetary system that helped fuel the greatest expansion of middle-class prosperity the world has ever seen. In making his decision, Nixon shocked world leaders, bankers, investors, traders and everyone involved in global finance. Jeffrey E. Garten argues that many of the roots of America’s dramatic retrenchment in world affairs began with that momentous event that was an admission that America could no longer afford to uphold the global monetary system. It opened the way for massive market instability and speculation that has plagued the world economy ever since, but at the same time it made possible the gigantic expansion of trade and investment across borders which created our modern era of once unimaginable progress. Based on extensive historical research and interviews with several participants at Camp David, and informed by Garten’s own insights from positions in four presidential administrations and on Wall Street, Three Days at Camp David chronicles this critical turning point, analyzes its impact on the American economy and world markets, and explores its ramifications now and for the future.

This book is about how the rise of democracy has transformed economics over the past 150 years. As voting was expanded to the masses in the late 19th century, political leaders faced emergent pressures to deliver prosperity to their newly enfranchised populations. This led to the rise of the guardian state: a state whose prime directive was to protect economic growth and employment. Domestic economic goals now became sacrosanct, and if that meant a failure on the international stage to construct solutions to problems in monetary relations, so be it. The book traces the history of international monetary diplomacy during this long period to show how the guardian state has manifested itself, and how it has shaped the course of international monetary relations. Each of the most important international monetary conferences in history is scrutinized with respect to how nations sought to protect the prosperity within their national economies. The historical narratives give a bird’s-eye view into how domestic political priorities have intruded on and shaped economic relations among nations. The book clearly demonstrates the advantages of an interdisciplinary understanding of how politics shapes economics. It will be invaluable reading for scholars and students of international economics, politics and economic history.

The first of two anthologies on international political economy drawn from articles published in the journal International Organization.

Prior to the 1970s, few serious efforts were made to bridge the gap between economics and political science in the study of international relations. Systematic scholarly analysis of International Political Economy (IPE), emphasizing formal integration of elements of orthodox market and political analysis, is really of very recent origin. This volume brings together some of the most important research papers published in the modern field of IPE since its birth less than four decades ago, emphasizing work that has significantly advanced theoretical and analytical understandings. Coverage includes grand questions of systemic transformation and system governance as well as more narrowly focused explorations of the two most central issue-areas of the world economy, trade and money and finance. The introductory essay locates this selection of articles in the context of the field's broad evolution and development to date.

Commentaries by top scholars alongside the most important documents and speeches concerning the Bretton Woods Conference of 1944 The two world wars brought an end to a long-standing system of international commerce based on the gold standard. After the First World War, the weaknesses in the gold standard contributed to hyperinflation, the Great Depression, the rise of fascism, and ultimately World War II. The Bretton Woods Conference of 1944 arose out of the Allies' desire to design a postwar international economic system that would provide a basis for prosperity, trade, and worldwide economic development. Alongside important documents and speeches concerning the adoption and evolution of the Bretton Woods system, this volume includes lively, readable, original essays on such topics as why the gold standard was doomed, how Bretton Woods encouraged the adoption of Keynesian economics, how the agreements influenced late-twentieth-century ideas of international development, and why the agreements ultimately had to give way to other arrangements.