Americanization of global finance (cont.)

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Sat Sep 25 13:54:49 PDT 1999


Rakesh Bhandari wrote:


>In our previous debate, I don't think you were able to show that Japan
>enjoys any kind of overall monopoly over leading edge technological inputs
>(James Galbraith's innovative capital goods) into the production process.
>When it comes to software, microprocessors, semiconductor guidance systems
>for weapons, biotechnology, CAD for airplanes, etc, the US at the very
>least doesn't enjoy an overall deficit in technology (indeed the US is the
>only country that has consisently run a technology surplus since the 1980s,
>and its high tech has only once gone into deficit according to
>Scherer).This gives US capital strategic power (in the James Galbraithian
>sense) that is not reflected in trade deficits run up by importing toys,
>clothes and DRAMS. This is something most economists with their
>mercantalist obsessions over trade deficits have been unable to understand.

You & JG have a point, but why is the U.S. $2 trillion in debt then?

Doug



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