1) What is the rate, not absolute value, of profits from colonial investment ( the absolute numbers don't matter anywhere near as much as percentages) ? Superprofits are super rate profits ,not super bulk profits. They are a marginal advantage. So what is the _rate_ of Southern contribution to value production, surplus value production, and rate of profit contribution ?
2) The U.S. is still involved in interimperialist rivalry, so U.S. military expansion gives U.S. imperialism an advantage over EU imperialism with respect to exploitation of colonies. For example, U.S. business is being given a monopoly in Iraq.
Charles
From: Doug Henwood
>They're net exporters of capital, they're arms markets, they're
>dumping grounds, they're sources of cheap labor and raw materials;
>they give the military practice opportunities.
These are all true, but how important are they to profit-making in
general? Total debt service was around $380 billion in 2001 (latest
year availailable) - that compares to about $40-50 trillion total
world product, $10-11 trillion U.S. alone.
AND
Not historically - there's no question the colonies made Europe's takeoff possible. I'm talking about now - what is the contribution of the poor countries to accumulation? Places like Brazil are subordinate to some degree, but also have their own regimes of accumulation, and exercise hegemony over weaker neighbors. Places like Africa are fairly marginal to accumulation, which is why they're so poor. Minerals are important, but they're not the motor of the system. IMF regimes are political weapons, designed to maintain a hierarchy and keep countries in the system. I'm really asking about the economics of imperialism - what is the Southern contribution to value production? ^^^^^^