The International Organization of Credit: States and Global Finance in the World-Economy (Cambridge Studies in International Relations, Series Number 57)

In this book, Randall Germain explores the international organization of credit in a changing world economy. At the centre of his analysis is the construction of successive international organisations of credit, built around principal financial centres (PFCs) and constituted by overlapping networks of credit institutions, mainly investment, commercial, and central banks. A critical historical approach to international political economy (IPE) allows Germain to stress both the multiple roles of finance within the world economy, and the centrality of financial practices and networks for the construction of monetary order. He argues that the private global credit system which replaced Bretton Woods is anchored unevenly across the world's three principal financial centres: New York, London, and Tokyo. This balance of power is irrevocably fragmented with respect to relations between states, and highly ambiguous in terms of how power is exercised between public authorities and private financial institutions. "In this book, Randall D. Germain explores the international organization of credit in a changing world-economy. At the center of his analysis is the construction of successive international organizations of credit, built around principal financial centers and constituted by overlapping networks of credit institutions, mainly investment, commercial, and central banks. A critical historical approach to international political economy allows Germain to stress both the multiple roles of finance within the world-economy and the centrality of financial practices and networks for the construction of monetary order. He argues that the private global credit system which has replaced Bretton Woods is anchored unevenly across the world's three principal financial centers: New York, London, and Tokyo. This new balance of power is fragmented with respect to relations between states and ambiguous in terms of how power is exercised between public authorities and private financial institutions. Germain's analysis thus suggests that we are living through a period of fragile international monetary order."--Jacket

Randall Germain explores the changing political economy of finance at the global level. He relates changes in global finance to wider changes in the organization of the international economy, and considers how commercial and investment banks have responded institutionally to these changes. Changes in the institutional organization of credit have rendered traditional policy instruments for controlling credit less useful today than in the past. Germain thus argues that the international organization of credit is likely to be relatively unstable into the twenty-first century, and the role of states within the global credit system will be precarious.

randall Germain Explores The Changing Political Economy Of Finance At The Global Level.