The Future of Global Capitalism: or Will Divergence Persist Forever
Strange, Susan. “The Future of Global Capitalism: or Will Divergence Persist Forever.” In The Political Economy of Modern Capitalism: Capping Convergence and Diversity, edited by Colin Crouch, Wolfgang Streeck, 182-191. London: Sage, 1997.
In this response to the contents of the volume in which it appears, Strange distances herself from comparative political economists studying different forms of national capitalism, and argues for a global perception of a more systemic view of capitalism. She notes that technological change and the mobility of capital and knowledge have produced a number of overlapping diversities in different sectors rather than a single state based set of diversities. The new institutional approach misses not only these changes but also the decline of governments ability to influence economic organisation, the growing disparity between the power of states and of multinationals, and the increase in bond financing (as a substitute for taxation) which is problematic for investment. Overall Strange is dismissive of a focus on diversity suggesting the more important problems will be the result of the increasing convergence of capitalism.
Keywords: Global Governance; Knowledge; Theory; Global System; Technology