> As should be clear by now, I am quite interested in
> Negri's thesis and so am researching this move by Big
> Capital towards "statelessness".
be careful, Toni would never say that. The decline of the nation-state does not mean the decline(tout court) of the "state." Always remember Braudel's sentence about capital and state quoted by Negri-Hardt.
> I mean, that is what
> eurodollars are, this stateless money,
sort of(not fully, I mean), it is true, as a matter of fact, that there are not formal reserve requirements on Eurodollars. It is ironic though, that the strongest "push" of Eurodollars was due to the various exchange controls imposed by U.S. in the '60s. It was a state's byproduct.
> Daniel and Allesandro,
> since you have done a lot of research into this: I am
> wondering what ,if any, influence the eurodollar
> "experience" had upon the development of the sort of
> capitalism unencumbered by states that we are seeing
> in something like the WTO?
In all sincerity, I don't know. I haven't thought about it, and I'm not an expert(at least not anymore. A couple of decades ago I wrote something about it, about the instruments of financial innovation, I mean. My conclusion was that the "true" innovation is a matter of "who" and not "how". Volvo, for instance, invented a new instrument in the '70s, the "N.I.F.", note issuance facilities. And the "news" it wasn't linked to the technical aspects of the NIFs but to the fact that a manufacturer was acting as a financial institution).
> I am not knowledgeable enough to
> prove it, but it would seem logical to me that
> capitalists would draw the conclusion, "hey, working
> outside the confines of the state is pretty
> profitable...not tax, no restrictions, etc".
of course, "Eurocurrencies" in general(not only eurodollars)developed because of the freedom from regulation and that's the reason why deposits in eurodollars grew also after the lifting of U.S. exchange controls in the mid '70s(absence of costs and controls).
> Seeing as this money is for the most part
> "unensured"...though dont HAVE To put a share of the
> eurodollar away in a reserve...I am interested in the
> instances of crises.
>
> Perhaps you would care to comment, in light of your
> knowledge about eurodollars, on Negri and Hardt's
> position that <<at a certain point the boundaries
> created by imperialist practices obstruct capitalist
> development and the full realization of its world
> market. Capital must eventually overcome imperialism
> and destroy the barriers between inside and outside.>>
an interesting matter could be following the evolution of e-money. That's a fully stateless money. But it is also a very marginal phenomenon.
ciao, alessandro