David A. Westbrook argues that we live in "the city of gold"--a global, cosmopolitan polity where politics are done through markets, and where global capital markets, not states, have become the dominant force in our social life. In this wide-ranging, multi-tiered exploration of our contemporary global political economy, he touches on four major themes: the historical foundation of the city of gold, an assessment of its political scope, its current discontents, and ways to make a better--albeit imperfect--world from within it.