This revised edition describes the genesis of America's political and financial domination. Michael Hudson's study of US financial diplomacy explores the faults built into the core of the World Bank and the IMF at their inception which - he argues - were intended to preserve the US's financial hegemony. Difficult to detect at the time, these problems have since become explicit as the failure of the international economic system has become apparent; the IMF and World Bank were set up to give aid to developing countries, but instead many of the world's poorest countries have been plunged into insurmountable debt crises. Hudson's critique of the destructive course of the international economic system provides insights into the real motivations at the heart of these institutions - and the increasing tide of opposition that they face around the world.

Table of Contents

Preface to the second edition, 2002; Birth of the American World Order - 1914-1946: Origins of Inter-Governmental Debt, 1917-1921; Breakdown of World Balance, 1921-1933; America Spurns World Leadership; Lend-Lease and the Fracturing of BritainAs Empire, 1941-1945, Bretton Woods - The Triumph of U.S. Government Finance Capital, 1944-1945; Isolating the Communist Bloc, 1945-1946. The institution of American empire: American Strategy within the World Bank; The Imperialism of U.S. Foreign Aid; GATT and the Double Standard; Dollar Domination through the IMF. Monetary Imperialism and the U.S. Treasury-Bill standard: Financing AmericaAs Wars with Other NationsA Resources, 1964-1968; Power through Bankruptcy, 1968-1970; Perfecting Empire through Monetary Crisis, 1970-1972; The Monetary Offensive of Spring 1973; Monetary Imperialism.

About the Author

Michael Hudson is an independent Wall Street Financial Analyst. He has taught in the New School in New York and at the University of Kansas Missouri. He has published widely on the topic of US's financial dominance. He has held the position of financial analyst for the Vatican for three years, as has also been an economic advisor to the Canadian, Mexican and various East Asian governments.

Reviews

"Michael Hudson's brilliant shattering book will leave orthodox economists spluttering. Classical economists don't like to be reminded of the ugly realities of Imperialism. Hudson is one of the tiny handful of economic thinkers in today's world who are forcing us to look at old questions in startling new ways". Alvin Toffler, best-selling author of Future Shock and The Third Wave