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Who Elected the Bankers?: Surveillance and Control in the World Economy
A former banker and staff member of the International Monetary Fund, Louis W. Pauly explains why people are deeply concerned about the emergence of a global economy and the increasingly integrated capital markets at its heart. In nations as diverse as France, Canada, Russia, and Mexico, the lives of citizens are disrupted when national policy falls out of line with the expectations of international financiers. Such dilemmas, ever more conspicuous around the world, arise from the disjuncture between a rapidly changing international economic system and a political order still constituted by sovereign states. The evolution of global capital markets inspires an understandable fear among people that the governing authorities accountable to them are losing the power to make substantive decisions affecting their own material prospects and those of their children. Pauly points out that today's capital markets resulted from decisions taken over many years by sovereign states, and particularly by the leading industrial democracies, who simultaneously crafted the instrument of multilateral economic surveillance. The effort to build adequate political foundations for global capital markets spans the twentieth century and links the histories of such institutions as the League of Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, and the Group of Seven.
- GenresInternational Relations
Paperback
First published April 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 3, 2020
Read this book before starting my new job tomorrow!
It was a decent survey of the history of the International Financial system, but unfortunately it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. I was hoping it would focus a bit more on the IMF, and take a more comprehensive look at the work it does.
Instead, the (relatively short) book focuses a bit more on trying to tell a cohesive story about how international financial institutions within the League of Nations and the IMF were related. Pauly does a decent job of doing this, but I suppose his point felt a bit narrow. Also, at one point he mentions that there isn't much primary evidence that people involved in the creation of the IMF saw the LoN as a major inspiration, which effectively means there isn't much evidence to back up what he's saying. This isn't really well addressed within the book, and he kinda just moves past it. Odd.
Overall, not a highly recommended book. I think it does a decent job of what it sets out to do, but what it sets out to do feels a bit narrow and not particularly interesting, so I don't really know if I'd recommend it.
It was a decent survey of the history of the International Financial system, but unfortunately it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. I was hoping it would focus a bit more on the IMF, and take a more comprehensive look at the work it does.
Instead, the (relatively short) book focuses a bit more on trying to tell a cohesive story about how international financial institutions within the League of Nations and the IMF were related. Pauly does a decent job of doing this, but I suppose his point felt a bit narrow. Also, at one point he mentions that there isn't much primary evidence that people involved in the creation of the IMF saw the LoN as a major inspiration, which effectively means there isn't much evidence to back up what he's saying. This isn't really well addressed within the book, and he kinda just moves past it. Odd.
Overall, not a highly recommended book. I think it does a decent job of what it sets out to do, but what it sets out to do feels a bit narrow and not particularly interesting, so I don't really know if I'd recommend it.
Displaying 1 of 1 review