The Crisis of Global Capitalism Reconsidered [antikvár]

Preface This booic was originally published in November 1998 under the title "The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Open Society Endangered". When the time came to prepare a paperback edition, 1 started revising it. The revision has become so substantial that it qualifies as a new book. 1 make the point by publishing it under a new title. It is amazing how much the world has changed in such a short time. In the fall of 1998 the financial crisis which had originated in Thailand in August 1997 was threatening to envelop the global financial markets. Only the timely intervention of the New York Federal Reserve Bank prevented a meltdown. A year later those fears faded into the background. The economies at the center escaped unscathed and the emerging market economies are showing pronounced improvement. Productivity gains triggered by technological advances have kept inflation at bay and precipitated a veritable melt-up in internet and communication stocks. | I believe that the current euphoria is just as misplaced as the panic of last year. Although the world economy is in a cyclical upswing, the structure of the global capitalist system has been left weakened by the events of the last two years. The International Monetary Fund which failed to stem the 1997/9 crisis has seen its power and influence erode and it remains to be seen how the periphery will withstand any serious rise in interest rates or a decline in stock prices at the center if and whey they occur. To believe that such a test will not occur is to deny history. Recent events such as the Kosovo crisis and the humanitarian disasters in East Timor and Chechnya have highlighted the inadequacies of our international political arrangements. 1 had dealt with these issues in the original book but only cursorily. When the book was published public interest was focussed on my views of the financial crisis. This is understandable in view of the prevailing conditions and my notoriety as a financial speculator. My discussion of what I call the non-market sector elicited much less response. As I was revising the book I felt a great sense of urgency to elaborate my ideas on the global political and security architecture much further than I did in the original version.