Super Imperialism. Michael Hudson
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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
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
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Contents
“. . . 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