the global melodrama

[Mark Jones]

The essence of the deflationary forces at work in last qtr C19 and last qtr C20 is
the same: inter-imperialist rivalry in conditions where the hegemonic power, which
controls global money and military force-of-last-resort, has too small an economy
to guarantee global demand rising at the productivity trend-rate (a contradiction
between global forces and global relations of production). British maritime
imperialism competed with the inner (rather than inter-) continental
(railway-driven) development of Central Europe, USA and to a lesser extent, Russia.
All the latter powers resorted to widespread protectionism, of course. But the
underlying mechanics were the same. The constraints on the world-market represented
by US weakness today can only result in similar explosive resolution. The impasse
is total.

Mark

michael perelman wrote:


> The economy grew during the "fast deflation" of the late 19th C.  Profits fell,
> wages did not increase much, but the economy grew, leading some to deny that
> any depression occured.
>
> Brad De Long wrote:
>
> > The *slow* deflations were accompanied by strong real growth. The *fast*
> > deflations (1873-75 in the U.S., 1893-96 in the U.S.) were not very
> > pleasant...
> >
>
> --
> Michael Perelman
> Economics Department
> California State University
> Chico, CA 95929
>
> Tel. 530-898-5321
> E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
>

--
Mark Jones
http://www.geocities.com/~comparty