Los Origenes del Desorden Economico Internacional: La Politica Monetaria Internacional de Los Estados Unidos, Desde La Segunda Guerra Mundial Hasta Nu

by Fred L. Block

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction, Business

355 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Yasir · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a dry read but a rewarding one for those following economics & also politics be it global or local. Block maintains a balanced critique & a measured tone. The progressing chapters venture deeper into economics and assume a prior understanding of the subject. Frankly, despite having no such knowledge I was still able to enjoy the read. I will definitely refer to some of the sections of this book in the future.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an invaluable, indeed, critical text for those studying international monetary relations and particularly for looking at transformations from gold into the current floating exchange system. I am re-reading portions of this book in the context of increasing interest among U.S. libertarians in some kind of return to the gold standard. I think such interest is based on lack of historical understanding, and Block's book helps to clarify this.

[Tristan · Rating 4 out of 5]

extremely immediate & prescient-feeling for how relatively old it is - we are further from the time of this book than it was from the throes of the great depression. certainly not Recent Scholarship by any means, and those seeking to understand the current conditions (well, the conditions that were current until the beginning of the second Trump admin - nobody understands the current conditions) will have to fill out another fifty years of monetary history, with the Euro (the kind of inter-state measure that Block regards as highly unlikely), neoliberalism, and other developments remaining to be accounted for. also problematic (for the reader, not the book per se) because of the time gap are our own assumptions and unfamiliarity with regimes of extreme capital controls. living in the contemporary west, the idea that currencies needed to "become convertible" is hard to wrap your head around, and Block is very casual about these things.

but - in an era when, as Block says - "a major power might find that rising competition from other powers makes it difficult to achieve all of its national goals within the existing rules [and] might attempt to force other countries to accept a bending of the rules" - a world facing a devaluation of the dollar, a reassessment of the US trade deficit, a 'mar-a-lago accord' - potentially a worthwhile reminder of the political and temporary quality of international monetary arrangements.