From the end of World War I through the early years of the Cold War, international organizations such as the League of Nations, International Labor Organization, the Bank for International Settlements, and the United Nations had a major influence on policies adopted among member nations. This book surveys ideas produced by those organizations on such vital matters as the international business cycle; trade policy; social policy; public expenditure; taxation and government investment activity; money and exchange rate management; wage setting and full employment and the rich country-poor country divide. The work reveals explicit normative agendas underlying international political economy, and lessons are distilled for today's debates on international economic integration.

This 2002 book expands our understanding of the distinctive policy analysis produced between 1919 and 1950 by economists and other social scientists for four major international organizations: the League of Nations, the International Labor Organization, the Bank for International Settlements, and the United Nations. These practitioners included some of the twentieth century's eminent economists, including Cassel, Haberler, Kalecki, Meade, Morgenstern, Nurkse, Ohlin, Tinbergen, and Viner. Irving Fisher and John Maynard Keynes also influenced the work of these organizations. Topics covered include: the relationship between economics and policy analysis in international organizations; business cycle research; the role and conduct of monetary policy; public investment; trade policy; social and labor economics; international finance; the coordination problem in international macroeconomic policy; full employment economics; and the rich-country-poor-country debate. Normative agendas underlying international political economy are made explicit, and lessons are distilled for today's debates on international economic integration.