Multi Polar Capitalism

History teaches us important lessons, provided we can discern its patterns. Multi-Polar Capitalism applies this insight to the crucial, yet often underappreciated issue of international monetary relations. When international monetary systems get first put into place successfully, such as the "classic" gold standard in 1879, Bretton Woods in 1945, or the dollar standard in 1982, they structure relations between the system's centre and the rest of the world so that others can catch up to the leader. But this growth-promoting constellation, a vector for accelerating globalization, runs its course eventually amidst mounting overproduction conditions in key sectors and spreading financial instability. Such periods of global crisis, from the Great Depression of the 1930s to stagflation in the 1970s and creeping deflation during much of the 2010s, force restructuring and policy reforms until conditions are ripe for a renewed phase of sustained expansion. We are facing such a turning point now. As we are moving from a US-dominated world economy towards a multi-polar configuration, we will also see the longstanding dollar standard give way to a multi-currency system. Three currency blocs rooted in the dollar, euro, and yuan will be dominated respectively by the United States, the European Union, and China, each a power centre representing a distinct variant of capitalism. Their complex mix of competition and cooperation necessitates new "rules of the game" promoting the shared pursuit of global public goods, in particular the impending zero-carbon transition, lest we allow fragmentation and conflict shape this next chapter of our history. Multi-Polar Capitalism adds to a century of research and debate on long waves, those roughly half-century cycles first identified by the great Soviet economist Nikolai Kondratiev in the early 1920s, by highlighting the role of the international monetary system in this distinct boom-and-bust pattern. Robert Guttmann is Professor of Economics at Hofstra University, USA, and he is also affiliated with the Centre d'Économie Paris Nord (CEPN) of the Université Paris XIII in France. He studied in Vienna and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, before obtaining his PhD at the University of Greenwich, UK. He won "Distinguished Teacher of the Year" awards at Hofstra in 1989, 2004, and 2012. Professor Guttmann teaches international economics, monetary economics, financial regulation, and economic integration in the European Union. An expert in money and banking, international finance, and monetary theory, he has published numerous books and journal articles, including his best-selling books How Credit-Money Shapes the Economy (1994), Cybercash (2003), Finance-Led Capitalism (2016) and Eco-Capitalism (2018).

History teaches us important lessons, provided we can discern its patterns. Multi-Polar Capitalism applies this insight to the crucial, yet often underappreciated issue of international monetary relations. When international monetary systems get first put into place successfully, such as the “classic” gold standard in 1879, Bretton Woods in 1945, or the dollar standard in 1982, they structure relations between the system’s centre and the rest of the world so that others can catch up to the leader. But this growth-promoting constellation, a vector for accelerating globalization, runs its course eventually amidst mounting overproduction conditions in key sectors and spreading financial instability. Such periods of global crisis, from the Great Depression of the 1930s to stagflation in the 1970s and creeping deflation during much of the 2010s, force restructuring and policy reforms until conditions are ripe for a renewed phase of sustained expansion. We are facing such a turning point now. As we are moving from a US-dominated world economy towards a multi-polar configuration, we will also see the longstanding dollar standard give way to a multi-currency system. Three currency blocs rooted in the dollar, euro, and yuan will be dominated respectively by the United States, the European Union, and China, each a power centre representing a distinct variant of capitalism. Their complex mix of competition and cooperation necessitates new “rules of the game” promoting the shared pursuit of global public goods, in particular the impending zero-carbon transition, lest we allow fragmentation and conflict shape this next chapter of our history. Multi-Polar Capitalism adds to a century of research and debate on long waves, those roughly half-century cycles first identified by the great Soviet economist Nikolai Kondratiev in the early 1920s, by highlighting the role of the international monetary system in this distinct boom-and-bust pattern.

In this major new work - the result of a lifetime of intellectual engagement - one of the developing world's most famous thinkers reflects on the times we live in. He argues that US hegemony has reached a dangerous new level under George Bush Jr, and that the US President's hubristic militarism will both lead to a never-ending cycle of wars and block all hopes of social and democratic progress, not just in developing countries, but in the North as well. Samir Amin also rejects the highly ideological notion that the current form of neoliberal capitalism - 'really existing capitalism' in which imperialism is an integral and permanent part - is an inevitable future for humanity, or in fact socially or politically tolerable. At the same time, he is not opposed to globalization as such; indeed he believes the whole world today is irrevocably connected, and that solidarity in diversity is the key to the struggle for a better world. In the body of the book, Amin provides a perspicacious analysis of tendencies within the rich countries - the US, Europe and Japan; the rising powers - China and India; the likely future trajectory of post-Soviet Russia; and the developing world. The central question he pursues is whether there are other hegemonic blocs that may emerge in time to circumscribe American power, and constrain free market capitalism and force it to adjust to demands other than its narrow central economic logic. This important and thought-provoking book identifies the key global campaigns Samir feels progressives should launch around the world. 'Another world is possible.' But, he warns, the diverse citizens' movements loosely gathered together in the World Social Forum must bite the political bullet and recognise that they can only transform the world if they seek political power.

Globalization and Capitalist Geopolitics is concerned with the nature of corporate power against the backdrop of the decline of the West and the struggle by non-western states to challenge and overcome domination of the rest of the world by the West. This book argues that although the US continues to preside over a quasi-imperial system of power based on global military preponderance and financial statecraft, and remains reluctant to recognize the realities global economic convergence, the age of imperial state hegemony is giving way to a new international order characterized by capitalist sovereignty and competition between regional and transnational concentrations of economic power. This title seeks to interrogate the structure of world order by examining leading approaches to globalization and political economy in international relations and international political economy. Breaking with the classical school, Woodley argues that geopolitics should be understood as a transnational strategic practice employed by powerful state actors, which mirrors predatory corporate rivalry for control over global resources and markets, reproducing the structural conditions for corporate power through the transnational state form of capital. In a period of increasing geopolitical insecurity and economic instability this title provides an authoritative yet accessible commentary on debates on capitalism and globalization in the wake of the financial crisis. It is valuable resource for students and scholars seeking to develop a deeper understanding of the historical determinants of the changing dynamics of neoliberal capitalism and their implications for world order.

This book seeks to understand how Russia’s multifaceted rejection of American unipolarity and de-territorialised neo-liberal capitalism has contributed to the gestation of the present multipolar moment in the global political economy. Analysing Western world order precepts via the actions of a powerful, albeit precarious, national political economy and state structure situated on the periphery of Western world order, Silvius explores the manner in which culture and ideas are mobilised for the purposes of national, regional and international political and economic projects in a post-global age. The book: Explains and analyses the tensions of post-Soviet Russia’s integration into, and simultaneous partial rejection of, the capitalist global political economy. Provides an overview of the social, political and historical origins of Russian samobytnost’ (uniqueness) after the fall of the Soviet Union and demonstrates their significance to contemporary understandings of world order. Explores how structures of cultural difference and practices of cultural differentiation interact with the normative legacies of American hegemonic aspirations in contemporary world order structures. Evaluates how cultural and civilisational representations are mobilised for state-projects and their corresponding regional and international dimensions within the global political economy. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Russian Foreign Policy, IPE and comparative political economy.

This book covers key aspects of the governance of the world economy, from the structures of capitalism to regional economic integration through the trading and production systems. International economic governance was already in crisis well before the pandemic, and talk of the crisis of multilateralism and of the postwar Bretton Woods arrangements had become commonplace. The pandemic, with its economic, political, and international reverberations, has only widened and deepened that crisis, which has now taken the form of a new cold war on China, and made the search for solutions more urgent. In this context, the chapters in this volume contribute to a deeper understanding of how international economic governance and the world economy have been changing over the long run, and provide insights into the new forms they are taking at the macro and micro levels. The book covers the crisis of capitalism revealed by the pandemic, particularly when contrasted with socialist countries, initiatives of regional economic integration that challenge, rather than being subordinated by, western powers, including the US, the evolution of the trade regime in ways that make contemporary trade wars intelligible, and the shakeup of the international production system. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of The Japanese Political Economy.

Like a giant oil tanker, the world is slowly turning. The rapid growth of economies in Asia and the global South has led to a momentous shift in the world order, leaving much of the traditional literature on globalization behind. Multipolar Globalization: Emerging Economies and Development is the perfect guide to these ongoing 21st-century transformations, combining engaging and wide-ranging coverage with cutting-edge analysis. The rise of China and other emerging economies has led to the emergence of a new geography of trade, new economic and political combinations, new financial actors, investors and donors, and weaker American hegemony. This interdisciplinary volume combines development studies, global political economy, sociology, and cultural studies to ask what this growth means for domestic and global inequality and examines the role of multipolarity in the reshaping of globalization. Renowned globalization scholar Jan Nederveen Pieterse deftly guides the reader through the development of globalization in the West and the East, explaining key topics such as the 2008 crash, trends in inequality, the changing fortunes of the BRICs, and the role of governance and democracy. Accessible and insightful, this book will be an essential guide for both students in the social sciences and for professionals and scholars seeking a fresh perspective.

Globalization and Capitalist Geopolitics is concerned with the nature of corporate power against the backdrop of the decline of the West and the struggle by non-western states to challenge and overcome domination of the rest of the world by the West. This book argues that although the US continues to preside over a quasi-imperial system of power based on global military preponderance and financial statecraft, and remains reluctant to recognize the realities global economic convergence, the age of imperial state hegemony is giving way to a new international order characterized by capitalist sovereignty and competition between regional and transnational concentrations of economic power. This title seeks to interrogate the structure of world order by examining leading approaches to globalization and political economy in international relations and international political economy. Breaking with the classical school, Woodley argues that geopolitics should be understood as a transnational strategic practice employed by powerful state actors, which mirrors predatory corporate rivalry for control over global resources and markets, reproducing the structural conditions for corporate power through the transnational state form of capital. In a period of increasing geopolitical insecurity and economic instability this title provides an authoritative yet accessible commentary on debates on capitalism and globalization in the wake of the financial crisis. It is valuable resource for students and scholars seeking to develop a deeper understanding of the historical determinants of the changing dynamics of neoliberal capitalism and their implications for world order.