The study of money

Monetary phenomena define the contours of the contemporary global economy. This is a recent development, and it will transform the study of internatio nal political economy (IPE). Two excellent new books, The Geography of Mone y, by Benjamin Cohen, and Mad Money, by Susan Strange, will frame, support, and provide the point of departure for scholars addressing this vital ques tion. Ultimately, however, and perhaps necessarily, these hooks raise more questions than the!, answer. But they do suggest in which direction the mos t promising avenues of investigation point-toward the study of the unique i nterconnections between the ideas, material interests, and institutions ass ociated with the management of money. Those relationships are profoundly co nsequential for politics and demand the renewed attention of contemporary s cholars of international relations and political economy.