The Atlantic Economy : Britain, the US and Ireland

Rating:
Summary: excellent analysis of hegemonic control over periphery
Review: This is without doubt one of the best books I've ever read. It traces the ways that Ireland was incorporated into first British and later U.S. economic hegemony, touching on such far-reaching issues as the true nature of the Marshall Plan (a calculating attempt to create European dependence on the U.S. and open European markets to U.S. products) and the ways in which core economic powers control the economic policies and decisions of apparently autonomous peripheral nations. It is an extremely valuable study, not least because of the relative proximity* of the players--culturally, racially and geographically--which sidesteps many of the other distracting variables that appear in many cases of core-periphery interaction. O'Hearn combines quantitative analytical depth with a readable and compelling style, making this book useful to professional economists and sociologists, yet accessible to undergrads and other well-read individuals. A must-have for anyone interested in political economy in any region or time period within the last milennium.

*British and Irish readers: I said _relative_ proximity. There's no need to take offense.