Re: [OPE-L] The International Diffusion of Capitalist Development

[Rakesh Bhandari <bhandari@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> In the current issue of _Economic and Political Weekly_ there
> is a 7-page article on "Diffusion of Development" by Prabhat
> Patnaik which I have *attached*.
>
> Recalling arguments by Paul Baran and others that there is a
> limit to the 'spontaneous diffusion' of development under
> capitalism, the author argues that a 'more immediate' limit
> to the development of different regions in the world capitalist
> economy is the "unwillingness of the leading capitalist
> economy to sustain a growing claim upon its wealth by
> outsiders".
>
> Do you agree with this argument?
>
> In solidarity, Jerry

I heard some echoes in this article of previous OPE-L discussion about
commodity theories of money and the defacto possession of an automatic
gold mine by the issuer of the reserve currency.
Whether there will be resistance to the denationalization of assets by the USG
I am not sure. I am sure there will be some!
I am also wondering what people think of Patnaik's Brandt like recommendations
and calls for global Keynesianism. Are these ways out of the 'imbalances'?
He's a bit skeptical himself.
I am also not sure of the quantitative validity of the argument he makes
for colonialism in sustaining imperial Great Britain's deficits vis a
vis the then newly
emerging powers. The same for the argument he makes for the importance
of Japanese penetration as an important cause of the Great Depression.
Rakesh