Deweaponizing Interdependence
Bringing the Idea of International Clearing Union into the Twenty-First Century
Will be published approx. on 19. February 2026
Book
Hardback
304 pages
978-1-350-57480-9 (ISBN)
Description
Offering an excellent overview of critical approaches to international payment systems, this open access volume re-introduces the contemporary relevance, origins and aims of the International Clearing Union (ICU), a concept associated with J. M. Keynes and with debates of continued contemporary importance to global political economy.
This volume focuses on how ICU proposals interact with economic theory and normative principles of ethics and politics. It examines key contemporary political issues including de-dollarisation, development, overcoming nationalism, principles of fairness in trade and finance, commodity pricing, fixed vs. floating exchange rates, capital controls, the need for planning, and global public investments, as well as urgent issues of climate emergency and ecological breakdown. As such, this important volume provides a wide range of perspectives from both the Global North and Global South, as well as from different disciplines including politics, economics and political theory.
'The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by The University of Helsinki.
This volume focuses on how ICU proposals interact with economic theory and normative principles of ethics and politics. It examines key contemporary political issues including de-dollarisation, development, overcoming nationalism, principles of fairness in trade and finance, commodity pricing, fixed vs. floating exchange rates, capital controls, the need for planning, and global public investments, as well as urgent issues of climate emergency and ecological breakdown. As such, this important volume provides a wide range of perspectives from both the Global North and Global South, as well as from different disciplines including politics, economics and political theory.
'The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by The University of Helsinki.
Reviews / Votes
As the Trump presidency sets about collapsing the existing world order and China and the BRICs countries explore alternatives to the dollar, there is an urgent need for sound monetary alternatives to the system of a single sovereign reserve currency. That is why the publication of this book could not be more timely. Its contributors - monetary experts all - expound with considerable authority on sound alternatives to the imbalances and instability of the current world order. I recommend it highly to scholars, policymakers and those activists wanting to build a more peaceful world. * Ann Pettifor, Director Policy Research in Macroeconomics (PRIME), UK * This edited volume on the pivotal importance of an international clearing union (of some form) to steer the current fast-fragmenting system of international economic governance away from the precipice of conflict could not come at a timelier moment. It is unique in rendering a potentially technical subject matter very accessible to a wide audience by combining a well-informed re-take on historical debates with a range of contemporary perspectives on ways forward - technically, politically and institutionally. It also stands out for its explicit consideration of the concerns of developing countries.In short, this is an absolute must for anyone, not just economists, with an interest in exploring ambitious yet also realistic proposals to achieve long over-due reforms of global economic governance that recognize past failures and that support the long-ignored ambitions and capabilities of developing countries, in the process. * Stephanie Blankenburg, UNCTAD, Switzerland *
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
617 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-57480-9 (9781350574809)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Heikki Patomaeki is Professor of World Politics and Global Political Economy at the University of Helsinki. His recent books are World Statehood (2023); Debating the War in Ukraine (with T.Forsberg, 2023), and The Three Fields of Global Political Economy (2022). He is a member of the Finnish Academy of Sciences and Letters and a Life Member of Clare Hall at the University of Cambridge.
Jamie Morgan is Professor of Economics at Leeds Beckett University. He co-edits the Real-World Economics Review with Edward Fullbrook. He has published widely in the fields of economics, political economy, philosophy, sociology and international politics.
Jamie Morgan is Professor of Economics at Leeds Beckett University. He co-edits the Real-World Economics Review with Edward Fullbrook. He has published widely in the fields of economics, political economy, philosophy, sociology and international politics.
Content
Chapter 1. "Introduction: The Idea of ICU and Its Relevance in the 21st Century"
J. Morgan & H. Patomaeki
Chapter 2. "Prospects for the Introduction of a Clearing Union at the International Level"
J. A. Kregel
Chapter 3. "Regional Clearing Systems: from the European Payments Union to Current Initiatives Confronting Dollar Dominance"
M. Amato, L. Fantacci & L. Gobbi
Chapter 4. "Resolving the Balance of Payment problematic: Feasible Reforms in the 21st Century"
N. Kari & L. Holappa
Chapter 5. "International Monetary Adjustment with and without a Global Fiscal Authority"
M. Vernengo, N. Cline & D. Fields
Chapter 6. : "Towards a New Global Financial Architecture: The Role of Multipolarity, Expanded BRICS and the Global South"
H. Khan
Chapter 7. "New IMF for inclusive multilateralism in the Anthropocene era"
G. Montani
Chapter 8. "An analysis of conflicts and the world monetary system: a case against unilateral responses and for a 21st-century global clearing union"
H. Patomaeki
Chapter 9. "Designing the rules and principles of the International Clearing Union: past and present debated issues"
A. Faudot
Chapter 10. "Moving beyond nation-state-centric exercise of monetary sovereignty and macroeconomic policy autonomy: normative underpinnings of a Global Clearing Union"
K. Kotilainen
J. Morgan & H. Patomaeki
Chapter 2. "Prospects for the Introduction of a Clearing Union at the International Level"
J. A. Kregel
Chapter 3. "Regional Clearing Systems: from the European Payments Union to Current Initiatives Confronting Dollar Dominance"
M. Amato, L. Fantacci & L. Gobbi
Chapter 4. "Resolving the Balance of Payment problematic: Feasible Reforms in the 21st Century"
N. Kari & L. Holappa
Chapter 5. "International Monetary Adjustment with and without a Global Fiscal Authority"
M. Vernengo, N. Cline & D. Fields
Chapter 6. : "Towards a New Global Financial Architecture: The Role of Multipolarity, Expanded BRICS and the Global South"
H. Khan
Chapter 7. "New IMF for inclusive multilateralism in the Anthropocene era"
G. Montani
Chapter 8. "An analysis of conflicts and the world monetary system: a case against unilateral responses and for a 21st-century global clearing union"
H. Patomaeki
Chapter 9. "Designing the rules and principles of the International Clearing Union: past and present debated issues"
A. Faudot
Chapter 10. "Moving beyond nation-state-centric exercise of monetary sovereignty and macroeconomic policy autonomy: normative underpinnings of a Global Clearing Union"
K. Kotilainen