Review by Choice Review
Mattione's work on OPEC's foreign investments in the 1970s is the first study of the recycling of oil revenues that focuses in detail on the decisions of the investors rather than the concerns of the borrowers-the oil importers. The author, a respected economist and authority on current international debt problems, has put together from official and unofficial sources a well-written, well-organized, and scholarly analysis of the investment strategies of individual OPEC countries-on the size and distribution of these investments, on their role in the international system, and the motivations behind various investment strategies. He concludes that, despite earlier fears that OPEC investments might be politically motivated, they have mostly been determined by economic factors. He predicts, moreover, that economic factors will continue to dominate OPEC investment strategies for the rest of the '80s. The book is well documented with footnotes and includes an extensive index. This is an important study for anyone who wishes to understand the economic and political implications of developments in the world oil markets or international financial relations among countries, both for the past and future decades. Upper-division undergraduate and graduate collections.-P.R. Allen, University of Connecticut
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
