Super Imperialism. Michael Hudson

ection>

      

      Super Imperialism

       Super Imperialism

       The Origin and Fundamentalsof U.S. World Dominance

       Second Edition

      Michael Hudson

      First published 1972 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

      Second edition published 2003 by Pluto Press

      345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA

      Distributed in the United States of America exclusively by

      Palgrave Macmillan, a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,

      175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010

       www.plutobooks.com

      Copyright © Michael Hudson 2003

      The right of Michael Hudson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

      British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

      ISBN-13 978–0–7453–1990–2 Hardback

      ISBN-13 978–0–7453–1989–6 Paperback

      ISBN-13 978–1–8496–4173–9 PDF eBook

      ISBN-13 978–1–7837–1401–8 Kindle eBook

      ISBN-13 978–1–7837–1400–1 EPUB eBook

      Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

      Hudson, Michael, 1939–

      Super imperialism : the origin and fundamentals of U.S. world dominance / Michael Hudson.–– 2nd ed.

      p. cm.

      Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.

      1. United States––Foreign economic relations. 2. Imperialism. 3. International finance. 4. United States––Foreign relations. I. Title: Origin and fundamentals of U.S. world dominance. II. Title.

      HF1455 H782 2002

      337.73––dc21

      2002006489

      This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental standards of the country of origin.

      10 9 8 7 6 5

      Designed and produced for Pluto Press by

      Chase Publishing Services, Fortescue, Sidmouth EX10 9QG, England

      Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton

      Simultaneously printed digitally by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, UK and Edwards Bros in the United States of America

      Contents

Preface to the second edition, 2002
Introduction
I.	BIRTH OF THE AMERICAN WORLD ORDER: 1914–46
1.	Origins of Intergovernmental Debt, 1917–21
2.	Breakdown of World Balance, 1921–33
3.	America Spurns World Leadership
4.	Lend-Lease and Fracturing of the British Empire, 1941–45
5.	Bretton Woods: The Triumph of U.S. Government Finance Capital, 1944–45
6.	Isolating the Communist Bloc, 1945–46
II.	THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE
7.	American Strategy within the World Bank
8.	The Imperialism of U.S. Foreign Aid
9.	GATT and the Double Standard
10.	Dollar Domination through the International Monetary Fund, 1945–46
III.	MONETARY IMPERIALISM AND THE U.S. TREASURY BILL STANDARD
11.	Financing America’s Wars with Other Nations’ Resources, 1964–68
12.	Power through Bankruptcy, 1968–70
13.	Perfecting Empire through Monetary Crisis, 1970–72
14.	The Monetary Offensive of Spring 1973
15.	Monetary Imperialism: The Twenty-first Century
Notes
Index

      “. . . with fraternity on your lips, you declare war against mankind.”

      Jeremy Bentham, addressing France’s National Convention in 1793, urging it to “Emancipate Your Colonies: Showing the Uselessness and Mischievousness of distant Dependencies to an European State.”

      Preface to the Second Edition

      As of summer 2002 the U.S. Treasury is pursuing the same strategy of “benign neglect” for its balance-of-payments deficit that it did thirty years ago. The deficit that caused a global crisis in 1971 when its $10 billion rate led to a 10 per cent dollar devaluation has now risen to hundreds of billions of dollars annually, and is still rising. Treasury Secretary O’Neill says he is not worried and that the situation does not call for any action, at least not on the part of the United States.

      This confronts Europe and Asia with a dilemma. If they let the U.S. payments deficit drag the dollar down, this will give U.S. exporters a price advantage. To protect their own producers, central banks must support the dollar’s exchange rate by recycling their surplus dollars back to the United States. This option obliges them to buy U.S. Government securities, as U.S. diplomats have made it clear that to buy control of U.S. companies or even to return to gold would be viewed