International Financial History in the Twentieth Century

The essays, written by leading experts, examine the history of the international financial system in terms of the debate about globalization and its limits. In the nineteenth century, international markets existed without international institutions. A response to the problems of capital flows came in the form of attempts to regulate national capital markets (for instance through the establishment of central banks). In the inter-war years, there were (largely unsuccessful) attempts at designing a genuine international trade and monetary system; and at the same time (coincidentally) the system collapsed. In the post-1945 era, the intended design effort was infinitely more successful. The development of large international capital markets since the 1960s, however, increasingly frustrated attempts at international control. The emphasis has shifted in consequence to debates about increasing the transparency and effectiveness of markets; but these are exactly the issues that already dominated the nineteenth-century discussions.

Review of the hardback: '… consistently well written … This book is exceptional in the clarity of the prose and the breadth of coverage … the collection will be particularly useful to provide easily understood surveys on the topics for postgraduate teaching as well as showing different research methodologies and approaches.' Business History, Review of the hardback: 'It covers much more ground than the twentieth century and is really about the international monetary system since it began in the middle of the nineteenth century.' History