>>> Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> 05/03/00 06:57PM >>>
Charles Brown wrote:
>CB: From summary of Lenin's analysis of imperialism: 1) monopoly
>capitalism is still applicable 2) state-monopoly capitalism is
>still applicable ; privatization is a late 1900's -2000 fresh
>example of state-monopoly.
Privatization is an instance of state-monopoly? I find that very confusing.
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CB: Actually, I wrote a paper on this. How is it that you conceive of state-monopoly ? I think of it in terms of all the ways in which the state ( in the U.S., federal, state and local government) act to increase the profits of the private sector, especially in ways that it did not in more competitive era of the 1800's. So, Keynesian fiscal and monetary policies are state-monopoly mechanisms. Directly to your question, privatization amounts to the government taking the extreme step of passing sections of the government over to the private sector. So, in Detroit, the public lighting department may be given over to a electricity monopoly, to enhance that monopoly's profitmaking.
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Lenin and Hilferding talked about state-sponsored cartels and the suppression of competition. Everywhere on earth, deregulation and the intensification of competition are the rule of the day. Please clarify how this proves Lenin and Hilferding right.
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CB: Well, Lenin emphasizes that monopoly doesn't end competition. Rather, it creates an even fiecer form of competition, monopoly competition. So, intesification of monopoly competition certainly proves Lenin right. Regulation was a limitation on monopolies. Deregulation is an enhancement of monopoly power.
If you read _Imperialism_ with an open mind, what jumps out at you is how the processes described are occurring on a larger scale today than in 1916. Some details are different, but the basic processes are very much all the rave. The large number of mergers
The problem is not that Lenin is outdated. The problem is that the monster he described is ten times the size of when he described it. What he was describing is worse today than then.
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> 3) Imperialist nations still export capital vs exporting goods
The U.S., the political/military/technological center of capitalism, is a major international debtor. The EU and Japan, lesser imperial powers, are creditors, but major exporters of goods.
And it seems like Kautsky was right on the fellowship of imperialists issue. For now at least.
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CB: I have to go ,but more on the export of capital vs. export of goods issue later.
Yes, I agree. Now with capitalism not being overthrown it has gone on to Kautsky's ultra imperialism.
CB