Description
About the Author
Ben Clift is Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick. His research interests lie at the interface of comparative and international political economy. He is author of Comparative Political Economy: States, Markets and Global Capitalism (Palgrave, 2014), French Socialism in a Global Era (Continuum, 2003), and co-editor of Economic Patriotism: Political Intervention in Open Markets (Routledge, 2012) and Where Are National Capitalisms Now? (Palgrave 2004). He has published widely on the politics of economic ideas, the IMF, French and comparative capitalisms, the political economy of social democracy, and French and British politics in journals including British Journal of Political Science, Journal of Common Market Studies, Journal of European Public Policy, Review of International Political Economy, and New Political Economy.
Reviews
That economic ideas are the currency of power in the corridors of the IMF is well known. But how these ideas are developed, shared, and spread is largely assumed. Ben Clift's excellent book changes that. By leveraging constructivist insights on how actors frame problems to a framework that stresses processes of ideational reconciliation and recognition within the fund, Clift shows the IMF to be more ideationally pluralist, and yet more political, than most analysts have shown to date. * Mark Blyth, Eastman Professor of Political Economy, The Watson Institute for International Affairs, Brown University. *
Ben Clift paints a rich picture of the IMF as it evolved during the global financial crisis. He claims, controversially, that when it came to advanced non-borrowing members the IMF pivoted back to its Keynesian roots following a long embrace of neoliberalism. The book challenges standard totalizing IMF narratives at a time when that institution is adjusting unevenly to the new environment in which it is operating. * Professor Ilene Grabel, Professor of International Economics, Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver *
This theoretically and empirically rich book challenges those who see the IMF always as an ideologically rigid enforcer of fiscal austerity. In analyzing the Fund's less orthodox positions in post-2008 debates about fiscal policy in the European context, Clift develops a fascinating analysis that should be read by all those interested in the politics of economic ideas, the ideational significance of international organizations, and global financial governance after the 2008 financial crash. * Eric Helleiner, Professor of Political Science, University of Waterloo. *
Book Information
ISBN 9780198813088
Author Ben Clift
Format Hardback
Page Count 298
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 610g
Dimensions(mm) 241mm * 164mm * 24mm