Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin attempt to understand the historical process that led to New York City becoming the operational center of the global financial order and the way finance capital and US empire reinforce each other. Panitch and Gindin examine the development of the Bretton Woods institutions (International Monetary Fund, World Bank), how the US state tried to manage class struggle and inflation in the 1960s and 1970s, the dominance of neoliberal policies since the 1980s, and how the globalization of finance capital has included the 'Americanization' of finance. They argue that there are openings for the Left provided by the problems of neoliberalism and the legitimacy of the US imperial state, but that new strategies are needed to challenge capitalist social relations.