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Money and Empire: Charles P. Kindleberger and the Dollar System
Charles Kindleberger ranks as one of the twentieth century's best known and most influential international economists. This book traces the evolution of his thinking in the context of a 'key-currency' approach to the rise of the dollar system, here revealed as the indispensable framework for global economic development since World War II. Unlike most of his colleagues, Kindleberger was deeply interested in history, and his economics brimmed with real people and institutional details. His research at the New York Fed and BIS during the Great Depression, his wartime intelligence work, and his role in administering the Marshall Plan gave him deep insight into how the international financial system really operated. A biography of both the dollar and a man, this book is also the story of the development of ideas about how money works. It throws revealing light on the underlying economic forces and political obstacles shaping our globalized world.
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Published June 11, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 22, 2022
After the New Lombard Street, Perry Mehrling returns to his previous writing style of integrating an intellectual and economic history with the biography and of an important economist. He has chosen well with Kindleberger for his exploration of international money and finance. Wonderfully written with insights into the profession, the economy, and Kindleberger, it's easy to recommend this book.
December 24, 2022
Perry at his best, describing Charlie at his fullest.
February 25, 2023
An ok book, learned a few things about “Charlie”, as Perry refers to him. The ultimate flaw of the book is that it’s rather superficial and thin, running at 260 pages and thus not doing justice to Kindleberger’s vast corpus of work and decently long life. We don’t really get enough insight into his work, and the contextualisation of his life is formulaic, which is bizarre give that he lived in the whirlwind that was the twentieth century and you’d expect that to have had a massive impact on him and his thinking, particularly the breaks and transformations in the monetary and financial system. It would have been so useful to unpack his ideas against the backdrop of the changing global economic system. None of that I’m afraid.
I also really wanted to understand how he wrote his books, especially the ones in financial history, what kind of sources did he use, how did he get to know and understand finance since the Middle Ages? No insight into that sadly. I haven’t read Perry’s book on Fisher Black, but from what I can gather in this one, biography is not his greatest strength. And I say that because I have read The New Lombard Street, and I did enjoy that one.
I also really wanted to understand how he wrote his books, especially the ones in financial history, what kind of sources did he use, how did he get to know and understand finance since the Middle Ages? No insight into that sadly. I haven’t read Perry’s book on Fisher Black, but from what I can gather in this one, biography is not his greatest strength. And I say that because I have read The New Lombard Street, and I did enjoy that one.
December 18, 2022
This book traces the development of the international dollar system. It feels ponderous and academic without a sharp thesis. The style turns out to be the point. Rather than using a simple model to represent a complex system Mehrling extols the virtue of examining the behaviour of the system to understand what works and what doesn't. Along the way, of course, he castigates the false dichotomy of monetarism and Keynesian thought.
Another interesting theme is dealing with an expected crisis that fails to materialize. The book is filled with excellent analysis that is surprisingly current. For Bitcoinati moving a half step beyond "money printer go brrr..." this is great.
Here is a sample passage that demonstrates the style and suggests the brilliant and memorable conclusion:
Leadership to provide the public good of stability, properly regarded, misunderstood as exploitation, or sniped at by free riders, seems a poor system, but like democracy, honesty, and stable marriages, is better than the available alternatives.
Another interesting theme is dealing with an expected crisis that fails to materialize. The book is filled with excellent analysis that is surprisingly current. For Bitcoinati moving a half step beyond "money printer go brrr..." this is great.
Here is a sample passage that demonstrates the style and suggests the brilliant and memorable conclusion:
Leadership to provide the public good of stability, properly regarded, misunderstood as exploitation, or sniped at by free riders, seems a poor system, but like democracy, honesty, and stable marriages, is better than the available alternatives.
July 18, 2023
A reminder of just how little I grasp about macroeconomics. I was hoping this would skew a little more general economic history, but I think the intended audience is one that understands a lot more about banking/intl trade than I do. It will probably take me a good amount of post-hoc research to get there (a long list titled “things I still don’t know” in my notes app). Felt I had to finish because I gave up the last book….. why do I do this to myself.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews