Nowadays, the
>> situation is more complicated, because the keiretsu have become global
>> production and trading networks, with facilities, plant and equipment
>> across the planet, and the US, Japan and EU have become far more
>> permeable to cross-investment than in any Manchester liberal's wildest
>> dreams.
Dennis,
Perhaps one of the myths of globalisation is the realisation of unrestricted commerce on a global scale--a myth that implies the diminution of the nation state as well.
Yet to what extent has the growth in cross or foreign investment been motivated by the attempt to circumvent de facto barriers to trade such as subsidies, voluntary export restraints, trigger price mechanisms (the establishing of minimum prices for sale), targeted trade practices? Could the thrust towards building global market shares by the internationalisation of production be the paradoxical result of defacto protectionist barriers to trade that are hardly in the Manchester liberal's wildest dreams? One would suspect that these defacto protectionist barriers will continue to be important sources of conflict as the US in particular runs trade deficits while attempting to dismantle protectionist barriers elsewhere through the WTO.
yours, Rakesh
ps Roger, thank you for most stimulating ruminations on the contemporary challenges facing Marxist theory. I am still thinking about what you and Max wrote in reply to Rosa's quote.