Susan Strange - Casino capitalism: A book review

Abstract

Many scholars of International Political Economy, herein after IPE, have all come to a common conclusion that the control over financial affairs is a big contributor of international power and influence. Susan Strange, who was at the time of writing Casino Capitalism, a professor in the department of International Relations at the London School of Economics, continues to criticise and observe the often-overlooked pieces of the international financial system enforced and managed by the Bretton Woods system.

In this book Professor Strange points out the dangers of mismanagement of money and credit and that the uncertainty in this industry has turned us all into gamblers. In her book she foregrounds these overlooked pieces of the financial system by claiming that the management of money is a political matter of importance. Her research is directed, however not limited to, the changes that were given effect by this financial system on societies. This book review will begin by exploring the authors findings and main argument of the book and thereafter, examine the relevance of the text to IPE. This will be done through assessing the financial prescriptions that professor Strange proposes such as the United States of America embodying the international lender of last resort. However, just as other academic texts, Casino Capitalism has its own blunt area, and this will be explored in the concluding section where the book’s downfalls will be scrutinised, these includes interalia the book’s dismissal of African colonialism and the difficulty to engage with the book without prior knowledge of global economics.