Ian Kumekawa

Ian Kumekawa focuses on the history of economic thinking, imperial statecraft, and global capitalism in the 19th and 20th centuries. He is also interested in the history of bureaucracy and the digital humanities, especially network visualizations.

Ian’s most recent book, Empty Vessel: The Global Economy in One Barge, (Knopf and John Murray, 2025) explores the world of offshore capitalism over the last forty years. The book tells the story of the neoliberal transformation of the economy through the narrative of a ship and the thousands of people who were berthed and incarcerated on it, foregrounding the hidden material infrastructures that have enabled globalization.

Ian’s previous book, The First Serious Optimist (Princeton University Press, 2017) examines the intellectual origins of welfare economics, focusing specifically on its founder, Cambridge economist A.C. Pigou (1877-1959).

Ian is currently working on his third book, Business State: State Capture in the British Empire (Chicago, forthcoming), which narrates the cultural capture of the imperial British state by big business in the early 20th century. During and after World War I, British businessmen made major inroads in political, administrative, and policymaking circles. In so doing, they forged a nexus of power that aligned the global commercial interests of British business with the state’s geopolitical aspirations and rapid growth. Britain, self-identified as a liberal democracy par excellence, was also an exemplary business-state, in which there was no bright line between public and private.

Personal website: www.iankumekawa.com