The best books about why international finance fails to deliver and what we can do about it

This book was a revelation.

I first encountered it when the original 1974 edition was assigned in an undergraduate course on social movement politics. I have never looked back.

Lukes’ three-dimensional view of power, and especially his two and three-dimensional views, make visible the power relations that are at work in areas where power does not seem to be active at all.

This has turned out to be an amazingly helpful way to look at power relations in the modern world. Lukes added two chapters to update his original text in the second edition.

I read Lukes’ work as anticipating constructivist insights. Even though others have since developed these ideas at greater length, in my opinion, this book remains a necessary guide to navigating the twenty-first century. 

This book looks at the relation between the market economy and society.

It challenges the conventional wisdom of classical liberal economics and sheds light on the root cause of many of the conflicts troubling the world today. Polanyi wrote this book during the Second World War as he tried to understand why Europe had descended into war yet again.

He found his answer in what he calls the “double movement” in which the outcomes of economic liberalism and self-regulating markets conflicted with a desire for social protection and the conservation of “man and nature” generating a political pushback in the form of fascism (132). This tension has not gone away. If anything, it is gaining strength again.

In The Great Transformation, Polanyi calls our attention to the dangers of policy prescriptions based on blind faith in the virtues of unregulated markets. We should pay attention.

Globalists presents an impressive account of the history of neoliberalism from a new and valuable perspective.

It adds nuance, depth, and detail to Polanyi’s analysis. Slobodian argues that neoliberals have always recognized that “free” markets require institutional supports and protection but that the neoliberal vision of these protections is in conflict with the vision of those who prioritize other goals such as social justice.

This came to a head in 1999 when, just as neoliberals seemed to have succeeded in scaling their project up to the global level, the forces of resistance also scaled up. Surprise!

Slobodian examines the significance of the protests at the 1999 WTO meetings in Seattle and concludes that neoliberalism has not yet succeeded in discrediting those who dare to contest neoliberalism’s preferred rules for the global political economy. 

I admire Keynes and I love this book. Not only is it beautifully written and fun to read but it is also important.

Keynes’ thought remains relevant and Carter does an excellent job of connecting Keynes’ ideas to our present-day predicaments. I feel much of Keynes’ work was motivated by a desire to prevent a repeat of World War I. When this failed, he set about doing his best to make sure that World War II ended with a more durable peace.

Keynes brought a skeptical eye to economic orthodoxy. I regret he died relatively young and was unable to weigh in on the events of the 1970s. Indeed, I regret he is not able to comment on the events of the 2020s but at least this book is. Not to be missed.  

This book is a welcome antidote to the defeatism that results from a crisis-prone view of the world which is so easy to fall into today.

Grable argues that we should recognize that the rigid models that define a narrow “correct” path to progress are inadequate. Instead, she puts forward the value of what she calls “unscripted” innovations and reminds the reader of the value of “muddling through” and incremental change.

Grable shines a well-deserved light on earlier work by Hirschman and Lindblom. She combines an appreciation of the importance of ideas and the necessity of a high tolerance for complexity and incoherence. This book makes the case for the importance of remaining calm and carrying on, while still keeping an eye out for opportunity.