Focusing on Fritz Machlup, Connell presents the story of the Bellagio Group and its contribution to modern finance. Initiated by Machlup the Bellagio Group was made up of thirty-two non-government academic economists. During the years between 1964 and 1977 the Group met eighteen times and made a series of recommendations for policymakers.

Introduction; Chapter 1 A Crisis in Confidence; Chapter 2 Fritz Machlup, his Research and Methodology; Chapter 3 Robert Triffin and the Triffin Plan; Chapter 4 William Fellner and the Intersection of Macro and Microeconomics; Chapter 5 Why Economists Disagree: The Role of Framing in Consensus Building; Chapter 6 'Assuring the Free World's Liquidity' Through Multiple Reserve Currencies; Chapter 7 Milton Friedman and the Arguments for Flexible Versus Fixed Exchange Rates; Chapter 8 Collaboration with the Group of Ten; Chapter 9 Adjustment Policies and Special Drawing Rights: Joint Meetings of Officials and Academics; Chapter 10 From the Bellagio Group to the Bürgenstock Conferences; Chapter 11 From The Bellagio Group and Joint Conferences of Officials and Academics to the Group of Thirty; Chapter 12 Reassessing the Bellagio Group's Impact on International Monetary Reform; Chapter 13 The Impact of the Bellagio Group on International Trade and Finance Scholarship from the 1960s to the Present; concl Conclusion;