University of Oxford
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Professor Catherine R Schenk

Professor Catherine R Schenk

Professor of Economic & Social History

St Hilda's College

catherine.schenk@history.ox.ac.uk After my undergraduate and Masters degrees at University of Toronto in Economics, International Relations and Chinese Studies, I went to the London School of Economics to complete my PhD in Economic History.  Since then I have held academic positions at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, Royal Holloway, University of London and University of Glasgow.  I have also been visiting professor at Nankai University, China, and Hong Kong University.  Outside academia I have spent time as a visiting researcher at the International Monetary Fund, the Bank for International Settlements, the Bank of England and at the Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research. I am a Fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research and Visiting Academic at the Bank of England.

Research Interests

  • International economic relations
  • International monetary system
  • International banking and finance

My research focuses on the development of the international economy since 1945 with particular emphasis on the evolution of international banking and finance and the international monetary system.  My current ERC funded project is GloCoBank, which is charting the development of global correspondent banking from 1870-2000 .  My other research focuses on the transitions between international currencies, proposals for reform of the international monetary system in the 1970s and 1980s and the development of international banking and financial regulation.  Finally, I have a special interest in the history of China’s international economic relations through Hong Kong.

Publications

International Economic Relations
Featured Publication

International Economic Relations Since 1945

2nd edition (Routledge, June 2021)

This second edition has been updated to include an assessment of economic relations up to the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on three main threads that tie national economies together: flows of goods, of people and of finance.

Since the end of the Second World War, the international economy transformed from a tightly controlled trading system to the financial globalization of the late 20th century. This book traces the organisation of international economic relations from the 1944 Bretton Woods conference through to the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath.

DPhil Students

Aymen Aulaiwi

DPhil Student

Man Sing Cheung

DPhil Student

Kirsty Peacock

DPhil Student

In the Media