Understanding the global economy requires insights that cut across history, policy, and finance. Several recent books, examining issues such as trade, development, and economic resilience, help offer that kind of understanding. The following selection of recent book reviews from the IMF’s Finance & Development magazine, includes some of the best guides:
Oliver Bullough’s book is a timely and unsettling tale of money laundering and the global fight against it. He challenges not only the effectiveness of the global anti–money laundering framework but also the way we conceptualize the problem itself. (Reviewed by Chady El Khoury)
Soumaya Keynes, a columnist at the Financial Times, and Chad Bown, a former chief economist at the US State Department, describe how trade wars actually unfold by examining changes in the global economy, policy choices of key players and the trade-offs of various strategies to respond to these shifts. (Reviewed by Elizabeth Van Heuvelen)
Eswar Prasad doesn’t just make vague declarations about uncertainty and wistfully lament the decaying economic order. Rather, he identifies what went wrong and paints a picture of what comes next. (Reviewed by Meg Rithmire)
Ostensibly a book about “China’s engineering mindset,” Dan Wang blends autobiography, travelogue, and sociopolitical observation interspersed with comparisons between China and the United States. The effect is tantalizing. Wang walks (and bikes) readers through well-depicted landscapes and cityscapes; pauses to appreciate cultural scenes and to savor culinary delights; and offers statistics, bits of history, and personal anecdotes along the way. (Reviewed by Melanie Sisson)
read more: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2026/08/06/new-economics-books-explore-trade-finance-and-a-changing-world-order
