Audiobook14 hours
The Summit: Bretton Woods, 1944: J. M. Keynes and the Reshaping of the Global Economy
Written by Ed Conway
Narrated by Ralph Lister
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
The meeting of world leaders at Bretton Woods in 1944 was the only time countries from around the world agreed to overhaul the structure of the international monetary system. The system they set up presided over the longest, strongest, and most stable period of growth the world economy has ever seen.
At the very heart of the conference was the love-hate relationship between the Briton John Maynard Keynes, the greatest economist of his day, and his American counterpart Harry Dexter White (later revealed to be passing information secretly to Russian spies). Both were intent on creating an economic settlement that would put right the wrongs of Versailles. Both were working to prevent another world war. But they were also working to defend their countries' national interests.
Drawing on a wealth of unpublished accounts, diaries, and oral histories, this brilliant book describes the conference in stunning color and clarity. This is an extraordinary debut from a talented historian.
At the very heart of the conference was the love-hate relationship between the Briton John Maynard Keynes, the greatest economist of his day, and his American counterpart Harry Dexter White (later revealed to be passing information secretly to Russian spies). Both were intent on creating an economic settlement that would put right the wrongs of Versailles. Both were working to prevent another world war. But they were also working to defend their countries' national interests.
Drawing on a wealth of unpublished accounts, diaries, and oral histories, this brilliant book describes the conference in stunning color and clarity. This is an extraordinary debut from a talented historian.
Related to The Summit
Related audiobooks
Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Deluge: The Great War, America and the Remaking of the Global Order, 1916-1931 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fear City: New York's Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Marshall Plan: Dawn of the Cold War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Three Days at Camp David: How a Secret Meeting in 1971 Transformed the Global Economy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Cold War: A World History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51917: Lenin, Wilson, and the Birth of the New World Disorder Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Vienna 1814: How the Conquerors of Napoleon Made Love, War, and Peace at the Congress of Vienna Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Day the Bubble Burst: A Social History of the Wall Street Crash of 1929 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Internationalists: How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5China's Great Wall of Debt: Shadow Banks, Ghost Cities, Massive Loans, and the End of the Chinese Miracle Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemists: Three Central Bankers and a World on Fire Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/513 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Extraordinary Time: The End of the Postwar Boom and the Return of the Ordinary Economy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Default: The Untold Story of FDR, the Supreme Court, and the Battle over Gold Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Economic Consequences of the Peace Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Crash 1929 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All the Presidents' Bankers: The Hidden Alliances That Drive American Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Saudi, Inc.: The Arabian Kingdom's Pursuit of Profit and Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Forgotten Depression: 1921: The Crash That Cured Itself Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A New Foreign Policy: Beyond American Exceptionalism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Maestro: Greenspans Fed And The American Boom Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Business For You
The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Charisma Myth: How Anyone Can Master the Art and Science of Personal Magnetism (Intl Ed) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How To Win Friends And Influence People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Think Faster, Talk Smarter: How to Speak Successfully When You're Put on the Spot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Your Next Five Moves: Master the Art of Business Strategy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets Of Americas Wealthy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The TenX Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Silva Mind Control Method Of Mental Dynamics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How To Lie With Statistics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Manage Your Money When You Don't Have Any Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Bulletproof: Protect Yourself, Read People, Influence Situations, and Live Fearlessly Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Critical Moments: Navigating Power Plays, Outbursts, Ultimatums, and More Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sociopath Next Door: The Ruthless Versus the Rest of Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Essentialism by Greg McKeown - Book Summary: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Getting to Yes: How to Negotiate Agreement Without Giving In Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anthem Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The New One Minute Manager Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Seeing What Others Don't: The Remarkable Ways We Gain Insights Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Elon Musk Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Company Rules: Or Everything I Know About Business I Learned from the CIA Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Will Own Nothing: Your War with a New Financial World Order and How to Fight Back Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Summit
Rating: 3.9999999818181817 out of 5 stars
4/5
11 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Conway tells the story of this meeting, where the principals—including Russia—agreed on just enough to shape the global order for several decades. It could have used more economic theory, but at its core are the exchange rate, the inflation rate, and the flow of money into and out of a country (capital controls). A country can control only two out of three of these things; it has to pick (or pretend). Bretton Woods was about agreeing on how exchange rates would be managed so that countries could set monetary/inflation policies internally; it lasted until the 1970s and delivered us into the next, neoliberal phase. Though Keynes gets most of the credit, he was actually outmaneuvered by the Americans (because Britain didn’t have any power left—it wasn’t exactly his fault, though his arrogance didn’t help).
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This 2015 book by a British economics journalist relates, with surprising deftness, the preparation for and carrying out of the conference at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in 1944. I was very aware of the conference and its results and remember viewing it as a big step in the U.S. being an internationalist rather than an Isolationist country. I suppose this was because Senator Taft, the leading isolationist of the time, opposed the agreement which was worked out at the conference. This book tells vividly the great difficulty which attended the meeting, with items revealed which make the reading consistently interesting as well as informative. The fact that the leading American voice at the meeting was Harry Dexter White, years later revealed as furnishing information to the USSR, is a sobering part of the story although, since the Russians ended up not ratifying the treaty worked out, obviously White's dealings with them did not lead Russia to want to be part of the mechanism devised there. Some no doubt view world finance as an abstruse and difficult subject but the author manages to make the book highly informative and very readable..