The Economic Government of the World

This is the definitive history of the institutions and individuals who have managed the global economy, from the World Monetary and Economic Conference in the wake of the Great Depression in 1933 to the present, as the G20 gather to manage the fallout from Covid-19. Martin Daunton sheds light on our economic past by examining those who manage the pendulum that swings between the competing forces of democracy, national determination and globalization. Since the 1930s, organisations created at Bretton Woods - the International Monetary Fund, International Bank of Reconstruction and Development and the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs - have left an indelible mark on our contemporary world. Daunton decisively argues that economic government cannot be separated from the politics of and between great powers, that future global recovery rests on the reduction of inequality, and that multilateral institutions are fundamental in fostering inclusive growth.