Review Article The Study of Money By JONATHAN KIRSHNER* Benjamin J.Cohen.The Geograpby ofMoney.Ithaca,N.Y.:Cornell University Press,1998,229 pp. Susan Strange.Mad Money:When Markets Outgrow Governments.Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press,1998,212 pp. MOTammaoi the study of international political economy(IPE).By contrast,for most of the past two centuries,money,as John Stuart Mill argued(and like a good baseball umpire),was only noticeable when it failed.This was cer- tainly the case during the dramatic expansion of the international econ- omy following the Second World War,and it was reflected in the concurrent development of the subdiscipline of IPE.The real economy -trade,especially liberalization,integration,and strategy-dominated the agenda,while monetary politics tended to pop up when its more se- vere pathologies-sterling crises,the collapse of Bretton Woods,the dol- lar cycle-threatened to disrupt the smooth functioning of world trade. At the dawn of the twenty-first century,however,these roles have re- versed.Money leads and the real economy must follow.From an eco- nomic perspective,this has an Alice-in-Wonderland quality to it: money,once the handmaiden of the modern economy,has become its mistress.For students of IPE,this presents a fundamental and profound question:in what way are politics affected by this change? Two excellent books,The Geograpby of Money,by Benjamin Cohen, and Mad Money,by Susan Strange,will frame,support,and serve as the point of departure for scholars addressing this vital question.The vol- umes,by two of the most accomplished and distinguished experts on I thank Rawi Abdelal,Eric Helleiner,Charles Kindleberger,Karl Mueller,two anonymous refer- ees,and the editors at World Politics for helpful comments and suggestions. World Politics 52 (April 2000),407-36World Politics 52 (April 2000), 407–36 Review Article The Study of Money By JONATHAN KIRSHNER* Benjamin J. Cohen. The Geography of Money. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1998, 229 pp. Susan Strange. Mad Money: When Markets Outgrow Governments. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1998, 212 pp. MONETARY phenomena now define the contours of the con￾temporary global economy. This is new, and it has transformed the study of international political economy (IPE). By contrast, for most of the past two centuries, money, as John Stuart Mill argued (and like a good baseball umpire), was only noticeable when it failed. This was cer￾tainly the case during the dramatic expansion of the international econ￾omy following the Second World War, and it was reflected in the concurrent development of the subdiscipline of IPE. The real economy —trade, especially liberalization, integration, and strategy—dominated the agenda, while monetary politics tended to pop up when its more se￾vere pathologies—sterling crises, the collapse of Bretton Woods, the dol￾lar cycle—threatened to disrupt the smooth functioning of world trade. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, however, these roles have re￾versed. Money leads and the real economy must follow. From an eco￾nomic perspective, this has an Alice-in-Wonderland quality to it: money, once the handmaiden of the modern economy, has become its mistress. For students of IPE, this presents a fundamental and profound question: in what way are politics affected by this change? Two excellent books, The Geography of Money, by Benjamin Cohen, and Mad Money, by Susan Strange, will frame, support, and serve as the point of departure for scholars addressing this vital question. The vol￾umes, by two of the most accomplished and distinguished experts on * I thank Rawi Abdelal, Eric Helleiner, Charles Kindleberger, Karl Mueller, two anonymous refer￾ees, and the editors at World Politics for helpful comments and suggestions