ABSTRACT
We tend to think of international political economy as a recent arrived phenomenon. Prior to the early 1970s, and especially the first oil shock in 1973-1974, academics had not shown a great deal of interest in the subject although, of course, people had been talking about political economy processes for some time. But as the study of international political economy (IPE) became increasingly fashionable, it also took on a marked preoccupation with current events. Since it was economic deterioration and recession on a world-wide scale that had galvanized concern with the subject perhaps that is not altogether surprising. The study of international relations, in general, is hardly immune to the same emphasis on “currentism”, but there are clear costs in treating these questions and processes ahistorically. The greatest cost is that it is quite difficult to make sense of processes that have been underway for centuries if we choose to look only at the most recent tail end. That is not to say that no one examines international political economy questions while paying sufficient attention to historical matters. There are a number of analysts who do pay attention to the origins of the processes they study. The point remains, however, that the central tendency is still one of assuming that history does not matter all that much.
