On Sun, 3 May 1998, Dennis R Redmond wrote:
> On Sun, 3 May 1998, Judi Kessler wrote:
>
> > ...Here comes the "euro" - Now is the opportunity to generate some great
> > 1998, down-to-earth, concrete, political-economy discussion.
>
> Well, for starters, it helps to remember that the euro is just the most
> obvious and leading-edge symptom of the EU's emergence as a global
> superpower (and, conversely, the decline of the US to an ex-hegemon).
Ex-hegemon in what sense? The sense that we have shifted from imperialism
and neoimperialist domination to hegemonic domination via polyarchy is
really only a change in formal tactic. But there is a deeper implication.
US machinery is the weapon for global capitalism, America coming to play
this role with the Americanization of the world economy, or put otherwise
the globalization of Americanism (major facet of the dialectic of current
world-history). In this sense the US has not declined at all but has
increased its hegemonic power, through the spread of culture-ideology,
particular economic structurings and political model of elite rule. The
sphere of influence of the Americanized global bourgeoisie is being
totalized as capital is becoming deterritorialized. Americanism is an
organic phenomenon. The nation-state is the face on capital, and to the
extent that capital eclipses its own front by transnationalization then
one may speak of the US hegemon declining. But to speak of other such
fronts eclipsing the US hegemon is to miss this central issue. A
restatement of the problem is in order.
Andy
> Whether the thing succeeds or fails, one thing should be
> obvious: the EU countries and their satellites comprise
> roughly a quarter of the world economy, and are largely self-financing and
> self-supporting in trade, finance, industry and what have you. The EU is a
> net global creditor, along with Japan; America is the world's biggest
> debtor. But the US dollar is still the world reserve currency; meaning,
> the debtor still has some leeway over the creditor (we could inflate away
> the value of our currency). The euro is all about taking away this
> last of our Imperial privileges, and providing the financial sinews for
> the further development of the Eurostate.
>
> The euro in its present form may well fail, i.e. Spain and Italy may drop
> out of the common currency, leaving instead a mini-euro comprised of the
> Benelux countries, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Austria, Ireland and
> Finland. But the drive towards economic integration and the rise of EU
> multinationals in the face of stiff US competition is going to continue.
> The politics of the EU are the politics of integration, so Left
> alternatives to the current global market mayhem have to deal with this
> seriously. For one thing, who gets to run the European Central Bank? The
> Maastricht treaty says, a coven of bankers, with no oversight from any
> elected body or parliament (even more undemocratic than the US Federal
> Reserve, if such a thing were possible). And if the euro arrives, it'll
> bring a common banking and financial system in its wake. How are countries
> like Italy and Spain going to compete head-on with German firms without
> some serious EU-wide subsidies? Instead of kowtowing to the demolition
> of the national welfare state, why can't the Euroleft call for a truly
> European-wide expansion of the welfare state, plus emergency programs for
> jobs and ecological reconstruction, to be financed by soaking the numerous
> Eurorich?
>
> -- Dennis
>
>