Nathan: << Does global capitalism need these
>multinational institutions to exert its power? Unlike you, I am not
>convinced that the answer is yes or even that capital would be weaker
>without them.
Doug: That's a good question, and I can't figure out the answer. >>
I am not surprised at Nathan, who is always coming up with this sort of thing, but I am surprised at you, Doug, particularly when you in fact give the answer in the next few lines by pointingt out that markets are not spontaneous but have to be built by a painful process of institutiobalization of which MNOs area central part and always have been. The Law Merchant, the basis of out own commercial law, was created by Renaissance Traders who had their own international courts for resolvingf disputes because the existing law didn'ta llow for the smooth operation of markets. (In the late 18th C, Lord Mansfield attained a sort of legal immortality by taking over the Law Merchanta s the common law of commerce.). The best historical source on this is Karl Polyani's The Great Transformation, a wonderful left perspective on the nonnatural nature of markets. NAFTA, GATT, the WTO, the MAI--not necessary for global capitalism? Tell it to the Marines.
How's Yale Law, Nathan? What are you planning to do afterwards? I'm still clerking, myself, last year on the &C, this year, the N.D. Ill.
--Justin