American Empire and the Political Economy of Global Finance

This book analyzes America's unique role in the making and managing of global finance, setting it in the context of the historical, social and institutional interface between politics and finance.It is highly topical amidst the challenges of crises in globalized financial markets. It provides a distinctive and original theoretical approach which enlightens new imperialism debates and the developments in international and political economy. It offers a wide-ranging coverage of the key American and international institutions in global finance.In a lively critique of how international and comparative political economies misjudge the relationship between global markets and states, this book demonstrates the central place of the American state in today's world of globalized finance. The contributors set aside traditional emphasis on military intervention, looking instead to economics.

Review
‘Panitch and Konings do a marvellous job in bringing together a set of innovative and rigorous chapters that throw critical light on the obscure and complex nature of the American Empire and its role in shaping the landscape of contemporary capitalism. This book is essential reading in understanding how the world works.’ - Susanne Soederberg, Canada Research Chair, Global Development Studies, Queen’s University, Canada

‘This work, written by some of the world's finest scholars on the topic, breaks new ground by demonstrating how finance is anchored in the social structure of the United States in profound and often unique ways. This takes the book far beyond routine assessments of how a dominant political and economic power translates its superiority into financial clout; compared to Europe, let alone the rest of the world, American capitalism also connects a wide variety of interests directly into the financial system. If Gramsci once said that in the United States hegemony grows directly in the factory, this collection demonstrates that it is also directly translated into hegemony in the global financial system. Are we now witness to its demise? At a time of profound financial disturbance, no student of global political economy can afford to ignore this eminent collection.’ - Kees van der Pijl, Professor of International Relations, University of Sussex, UK, and author of Global Rivalries from the Cold War to Iraq