Forgotten Foundations of Bretton Woods

Forgotten Foundations is classic interdisciplinary history, drawing on literatures from political science and economics as well as primary sources.... Helleiner has made an important contribution that will permanently re-frame how scholars conceptualize Bretton Woods.

* Journal of Interdisciplinary History *

By tracing back the origins of the World Bank and the IMF to the Latin American push for creating an Inter-American Bank and US initiatives around the Good Neighbor financial partnership, especially the financial advisory mission to Cuba in 1941–2, the author succeeds in demonstrating that the development of poor countries was indeed a key issue for the founders of the post-war financial institutions. Helleiner drew heavily on detailed primary material for his research and presents with his beautifully written book a completely new reading of the Bretton Woods negotiations.

* Political Studies Review *

Helleiner's book is an erudite study of US financial diplomacy during the Roosevelt administration. To trace back the origins of state-led economic development to White and the 1930s, Helleiner covered a vast amount of secondary and archival sources. He thereby ends up doing much more than he set out to do. His book is in fact a tour de force of US financial diplomacy before and during the Second World War, set in the larger context of global relations, and it is essential reading for scholars interested in the history of international monetary affairs.

* The Economic History Review *

In a masterly historical analysis based on extensive archival research, Helleiner shows that poorer nations were anything but voiceless. Their delegates played an active role in shaping the discussions, and their development aspirations were by no means ignored. In previous works on topics as varied as the postwar revival of global finance and the evolution of money, Helleiner has already established himself as an outstanding historian of the international political economy. In this book, once again, he has done an important service in correcting the historical record. The book is organized in eight chapters—four on steps leading up to the 1944 conference and four on the conference itself, all written in the author's usual lucid manner.

* Political Science Quarterly *

Somewhat surprising given his background in Political Science, Helleiner has eschewed grand theorising in favour of arduous archival research. But this certainly works to his advantage: He is neither forced to plaster historical material with concepts nor is he running the risk of selecting facts according to the demands of a specific theoretical paradigm.... That it will attract a huge readership is beyond doubt. It is certain to become a landmark study for all those interested in Economic History, Development Studies and Global Political Economy, and aside from academia, all those who want to understand the shoals of international economic cooperation.

* Journal of International Development *

The author has done a lot of arduous work in archives, and has come up with highly interesting, even provocative results.... [T]his book is highly recommended reading, of interest not only to people working on Bretton Woods and its two institutions, but also to people doing research on the dogmengeschichte of development.

* Zagreb International Review of Economics & Business *

The central argument of Eric Helleiner's important and original new book is that economic development was a core goal of the Bretton Woods architects.... He marshals impressive new evidence to show that... U.S. policy makers focused as much—or more—on the development needs and aspirations of poorer countries as on the future reconstruction requirements of war-torn Europe and Asia.... The tragedy, says Helleiner, is that despite initial good intentions, the Bretton Woods system ultimately failed to live up to its developmental promise. Post-war idealism was soon eclipsed by Cold War realities, leaving the IMF and the World Bank as tools, not of global development, but of western anti-communist crusaders and free market ideologues.

* Literary Review of Canada *

In this remarkable book, Helleiner challenges the long held view that the Bretton Woods agreements were a product of Anglo-American negotiations, in which development issues received little attention and southern voices were largely absent. The book offers a very different interpretation... and shows how international support for the economic development of southern countries, particularly Latin American, was widely discussed during the negotiations.... Helleiner further suggests that this forgotten history and goals of the Bretton Woods may continue to generate some inspiration for policy makers in their efforts to recover from the current global economic downturn. Highly recommended.

* Choice *

The story Helleiner tells is based upon exhaustive archival research and an intimate knowledge of the secondary literature. The argument is persuasive; and it is expressed in a clear and unpretentious manner, a genuine bonus for the reader. Both the author and Cornell University Press have produced a book of which they can be justly proud. It deserves the attention of economists and historians with an interest in the origins of development economics and the evolution of the international monetary system.

* Economic Record *

Investigates the origins and content of the Bretton Woods agreements, illustrating how international development goals were incorporated into the liberal multilateral financial architecture and explaining how leaders of Southern countries, particularly those from Latin America, played a significant role in shaping the Bretton Woods outcomes.

* Journal of Economic Literatu