Description
Book SynopsisToday, states’ ability to borrow private capital depends on stringent evaluations of their creditworthiness. While many presume that this has long been the case, Quentin Bruneau argues that it is a surprisingly recent phenomenon—the outcome of a pivotal shift in the social composition of financial markets.
Trade ReviewBruneau provides a new take on a fascinating subject, presenting a necessary and interesting glimpse into the opaque and immensely powerful world of sovereign finance and giving us a real sense of the cultural logics that pervade this rarefied sphere. -- Emily Erikson, author of
Trade and Nation: How Companies and Politics Reshaped Economic ThoughtQuentin Bruneau shines a deep and penetrating light on financial institutions and the changing forms of knowledge which guide their activities. The historical mode of enquiry he adopts is a critical advance on more static conceptions of institutional agency, and is an important contribution towards understanding what is new and innovative in contemporary global finance. -- Randall Germain, author of
Global Politics and Financial GovernancePithy, intelligent, illuminating. This exciting book reveals the changing and pivotal role played by financial actors and markets in modern state formation. -- Patricia Clavin, coeditor of
Internationalisms: A Twentieth-Century HistoryBruneau has written a brilliant book about the ‘ways of knowing’ in international finance. * Survival *
This book is a compelling read, and its ambition to create an interdisciplinary bridge is highly commendable. It undoubtedly contributes insights for gaining an interesting perspective on some of the foundational aspects of sovereign lending. * H-Diplo *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
1. How International Practitioners Think About States
Part I: The Old Sovereign Lending2. The Insiders: Merchant Bankers
3. Gentility as a Form of Knowledge
Part II: The New Sovereign Lending4. The Outsiders: Joint Stock Banks
5. Statistics as a Form of Knowledge
6. The New Sovereign Lending Triumphs
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
