Re: “Sovereign wealth funds”
On May 26, 2007, at 10:11 AM, Marvin Gandall wrote:
The export of capital from the developing nations to the advanced
capitalist countries was unforeseen (so far as I’m aware) by the classical
theorists of imperialism, although Western finance capital still stands to
benefit hugely from its management of these surpluses.
Sure, and I don’t doubt the City of London made money off Britain’s
transition from creditor to debtor. A lot of leftists want to see
growing U.S. indebtedness as a sign of strength - somehow all those
Asians buy U.S. treasury bonds are paying us tribute or something, as
if we weren’t on the hook for interest & principal, and in constant
daily need for new finance and the rolling over of old loans. Maybe
it is a perverse sign of strength - that won’t be clear for some
time. And Washington could always default, though that would throw
the world economy into a tailspin. But it looks to me worth
considering that the debts are a long-term symptom of erosion of
position that may take years or decades to play out, but which is
underway. That seems to be how the CFR audiences I’ve observed take it.
Doug