The Making of Global Capitalism

September 10, 2012
In this sweeping, timely, and well-researched study of global capitalism, York University political scientist Panitch and York University visiting social justice scholar Gindin (coauthors, with Greg Albo, of In and Out of Crisis: The Global Financial Meltdown and Left Alternatives) trace economic developments from the 1944 Bretton Woods conference to the present. Panitch and Gindin maintain that after WWII, U.S. officials did not pursue a narrow conventional concept of national self-interest; rather, in pushing for nondiscriminatory international access for capital, “European capitalists forged ties with American capitalists both within Europe and within the US,” strengthening cross-border capitalist powers. If this argument stretches the concept of class unity to a perhaps untenable solidity, it also underscores the evolution of “a truly global financial system based on the internationalization of the U.S. financial system.” However, decades later, global capital mobility led to 72 financial crises in the 1990s among low- and middle-income nations. The authors conclude that “turning the financial institutions that are the life-blood of global capitalism into public utilities” is a “necessary prerequisite for social justice and democracy”; whether this is a desirable, or even plausible, action need not vitiate the merits of the authors’ compelling arguments.

September 15, 2012
Left-leaning intellectuals examine the exceptional role of the United States in the development of global capitalism. In this densely detailed work, Panitch (Political Science/York Univ.; Renewing Socialism: Transforming Democracy, Strategy, and Imagination, 2009, etc.) and Gindin (The Canadian Auto Workers: The Birth and Transformation of a Union, 1995, etc.) offer "not another book on U.S. military interventions" but rather an account of "the political economy of American empire," in which the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve are far more important players than the Pentagon and CIA. As early as World War I, during which American finance and industry were critically important to the war's outcome, it was clear that the U.S. would eventually take the lead in creating global capitalism. That likelihood was realized at the end of World War II, when America emerged as the strongest single postwar power and sought to promote free enterprise in every nation. Changes in the Treasury, Federal Reserve and State Department made possible a postwar economic policy aimed at securing adequate natural resources to sustain domestic capital accumulation; creating conditions abroad to attract foreign investment; and integrating other states into an American-managed global capitalism. The authors show how both Europe and Japan became part of the "informal" American empire and how the postwar growth of American finance--including the externalization of American practices and institutions--led to the creation of the integrated system of expanding financial markets that characterizes capitalist globalization. By the end of the 20th century, write the authors, "capitalists, literally almost everywhere, generally acknowledged a dependence on the U.S. for establishing, guaranteeing, and managing the global framework within which they could all accumulate." Will be appreciated most by specialists in economics and globalism.

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December 1, 2012

Panitch and Gindin (both political science, York Univ., Toronto; coauthors, In and Out of Crisis: The Global Financial Meltdown and Left Alternatives) here explore how the United States has, over nearly a century, promoted the spread of capitalism and helped establish it as the prevailing global economic system. Their book makes the case that by using its financial and military might, America created a loose empire that eventually pushed aside competing economic systems and quieted populist resistance. Even by the 1990s, when capitalist globalization seemed inevitable, they argue, the movement was still dependent on the continued promulgation of favorable laws and treaties. They conclude that meaningful progressive social reform in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis will depend on whether policymakers can understand and overcome the political and legal underpinnings of the capitalist system. VERDICT Written in formal academic language and featuring comprehensive coverage of historic economic developments, this work is not an easy read. To fully appreciate the authors' nuanced arguments and conclusions, readers need a basic knowledge of economics and political science. Recommended to scholars and advanced students of economics or political science.--Lawrence Maxted, Gannon Univ. Lib., Erie, PA

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