The Chase Across The Globe : International Accumulation And The Contradictions For Nation States

Over the last 20 years -- and especially over the last decade -- the international expansion of money and commodities and the international relocation of production have grown tremendously. As a result, there now exists a real contradiction in accumulation: Although global in orientation, it remains structured by the nation state. Conventional economic literature generally explains the international economy as exogenous to the national economy. Though the former does influence the latter, national economy and policy remain discrete. Conversely, there is a developing literature on globalism that explores the tendency for international capital to eradicate national differences, even to overpower nation states. However, neither interpretation adequately considers the contradictions for national policy that have accompanied the internationalization of capital. In this volume, Dick Bryan examines the influence of the international economy upon domestic accumulation, describing the process as the expression of the contradiction between the international scope of accumulation and the national scope of its regulation. Developing a theoretical framework for understanding the contradiction within Marxist political economy, he addresses the theory of value on an international scale, as well as theories of global restructuring and crisis. These issues are then applied to those domestic policies -- such as monetary policy and balance of payments -- that interrelate with the international economy. The author argues that the conventional theories informing these approaches have consistently failed to recognize the contradictions in international accumulation. National economic management has, as a result, reverted to explicit class politics, attempting to solve domestic economic problems by targeting the living standards of labor Cover Half Title Title Copyright Contents Tables and Figures Acknowledgments Introduction 1 What Is the Internationalisation of Capital? Internationalisation as a Recent Phenomenon Money and Recent Internationalisation Conclusion 2 National Economies and International Capital: The Economists' Bind The Economic Orthodoxy A Marxist Agenda of Analysis Internationalisation and the National Question Conclusion 3 Internationalisation, Crisis and Restructuring Internationalisation, Accumulation and Crisis Crisis in a National Framework Restructuring and Recent Internationalisation Conclusion 4 The Internationalisation of Capital and Marxian Value Theory Accumulation and the State in an International Context Value on an International Scale Conclusion 5 The Nation State and the Contradictions of International Capital Movement The Minimum Requirements of a Conception of the Nation State: A Reiteration Division Between Capitals Four Forms of Accumulation Alternative Formulations of the Division Between Capitals Circuits of Capital and the Nation State Conclusion 6 Internationalisation and the Contradictions of National Monetary Policy Money, Value and the State: A Reiteration Contradictions of the Monetary System The Contradiction Within Monetary Policy The Contradiction Within Monetary Theory National Monetary Policy in a Global Context Conclusion 7 Balance of Payments as Nationalist Accounting The System of Accounting Capital Mobility and the Balance of Payments Conclusion 8 The United States Balance of Payments in the Mid 1980s: The National Burden of Global Change The Current Account The Capital Account Capital Inflow, or Just Demand for Dollars? Domestic Policy Responses Conclusion 9 Balance of Payments and Nationalist Policy The Decline of Keynesianism ... and the Decline of Monetarism Internationally-Oriented Macro Policy From Comparative to Competitive Advantage Conclusion 10 What Needs to Be Reclaimed? The Dictates of Global Competition Nation States and National Processes Political Responses References Index About the Book and Author This book examines the influence of the international economy upon domestic accumulation, describing the process as the expression of contradiction between the international scope of accumulation and the national scope of its regulation. It develops a Marxist approach for international accumulation. The international expansion of money and commodities and the international relocation of production have grown in the last two decades. This volume challenges conventional theory and explores the clash between the international scope of accumulation and the national scope of its regulation. Dick Bryan. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 192-202) And Index.