American money and the Weimar Republic.

American Money and the Weimar Republic. By William C. McNeil. New York: Columbia University Press, 1986. x + 352 pp. Charts, appendix, notes, bibliography, and index. $35.00.

"Neither borrower nor lender be" has not been the motto of many twentieth-century governments. Indeed, the domestic peace of many a state has been preserved only by international borrowing. These international capital flows raise important questions, however. What degree of control do lenders acquire over the policies of the borrowers? What constraints are created on the policy options of indebted countries? The questions take on increasing importance at a time when the United States itself has become the world's leading debtor nation, and when some of its major financial institutions find themselves dependent on the uncertain repayment of loans by Third World countries. History can never he a foolproof guide, but it can offer useful instruction on these issues.

William C. McNeil's American Money and the Weimar Republic is a case study of one of the most noteworthy instances of massive …