Fred Lee’s history of radical economics in America between 1945 and 1970 (RRPE 36, 2) fails to address why the powerful New Deal movement disintegrated so quickly after the war. This article argues that the Soviet Union’s decision to retreat into isolationism split and effectively destroyed the American Left. Progressive but noncommunist economists including Harry White and Lauchlin Currie were isolated and easy targets for McCarthyites. The Bretton Woods institutions they had designed were effectively consigned into the hands of American imperialism.
Acsay, P. 2000. Planning for postwar economic cooperation: The United States Treasury, the Soviet Union, and Bretton Woods, 1933-1946. PhD diss., Saint Louis University, MO.
2.
Amin, S.1982. The future of Maoism. New York: Monthly Review Press.
3.
Amin, S.. 2000. The political economy of the twentieth century. Monthly Review52 (2): 1-17.
4.
Bernstein, E.1996. The making and remaking of the Bretton Woods institutions. In The Bretton Woods-GATT system, ed. O. Kirshner, 89-98. New York: M. E. Sharpe.
5.
Boughton, J.2002. Why White, not Keynes: Inventing the postwar international monetary system. IMF Working Paper 02/52. Washington, DC: IMF.
6.
Craig, B. 1999. Treasonable doubt: The Harry Dexter White case. PhD diss., American University, Washington, DC.
7.
Currie, L., P. Ellsworth, and H. White. [1932] 2002. Memorandum prepared by L. B. Currie, P. T. Ellsworth, and H. D. White (Cambridge, MA, January 1932). History of Political Economy34 (3): 533-552.
8.
Henning, C.1996. Political economy of the Bretton Woods institutions: Adapting to financial change. World Economy19 (2): 173-193.
9.
Hobsbawm, E.2002. Interesting times: A twentieth century life. London: Allen Lane.
10.
James, H.1996. International monetary cooperation since Bretton Woods. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
11.
Jones, B.1972. The role of Keynesians in wartime policy and post-war planning 1940-1946. American Economic Review62 (1/2): 125-133.
12.
Keynes, J.1980. The collected writings of John Maynard Keynes, 30 vols. London: Macmillan.
13.
Kitchen, M.1973. August Thalheimer’s theory of fascism. Journal of the History of Ideas34 (1): 67-78.
14.
Lee, F.2004. History and identity: The case of radical economics and radical economists, 1945-70. Review of Radical Political Economics36 (2): 177-195.
15.
Lucas, S.2000. George Orwell: The socialist fallacy. New Statesman, May 29, 12-15.
16.
Magdoff, H.2002. Essays on imperialism and globalization. Kharagpur, India: Cornerstone Publications.
17.
Monbiot, G.2005. I’m with Wolfowitz. The Guardian, April 5, 19-19.
18.
Naumov, V., and J. Brent.2003. Stalin’s last crime: The plot against the Jewish doctors, 1948-1953. New York: Harper Collins.
19.
Sandilands, R.1990. The life and political economy of Lauchlin Currie: New Dealer, presidential advisor and development economist. London: Duke University Press.
20.
Sandilands, R.. 2000. Guilt by association? Lauchlin Currie’s alleged involvement with Washington economists in Soviet espionage. History of Political Economy32 (3): 473-515.
21.
Schwartz, H.2003. Hobson’s voice: American internationalism, Asian development, and global macroeconomic imbalances. Journal of Post Keynesian Economics25 (2): 331-352.
22.
Sherman, H.1994. Rise and fall of the Soviet Union. International Journal of Political Economy24 (1): 5-18.
23.
Unger, R.1998. Democracy realized: A progressive alternative. London: Verso.
24.
U.S. Department of State. 1948. Proceedings and documents of the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, 2 vols. Bretton Woods, NH, July 1-22, 1944. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
25.
Weinberg, R., and B. Berman.1998. Stalin’s forgotten Zion: Birobidzhan and the making of a Soviet Jewish homeland: An illustrated history, 1928-1996. Berkeley: University of California Press.
26.
White, H. 1941. Letter to Morgenthau, August 14. White Papers (Princeton University), box five, file 26.
27.
White, H. 1942. Draft of a letter to the president, August 12. White Papers (Princeton University), box seven, file 22a.
28.
White, H. 1945. Continued peace and friendly relations with Russia. White Papers (Princeton University), box seven, file 23d.
29.
Wilks, A. 2001. Speech to a forum, “Globalisation, the true story.” London: Overseas Development Institute, October 25. Accessed 23 December 2004 at http://www.odi.org.uk/speeches/autumn2001/autumn2001_2.html
