Book excerpt: Originally published in 1981, this book provided an up-to-date and critical review of the recent history and current status of the main economic institutions affecting international trade and relations at the time. The authors emphasise the economic effectiveness or otherwise of such bodies as GATT, IMF, EEC, UNCTAD and the World Bank, but take account of the political factors present in both the initial ‘design’ and in the way that the institutions have developed. In particular, the book analyses the changed degree of dominance which the USA had been able to exert on the international community.