Publisher's Synopsis
Is the US an exceptional nation in the history of the world? Is it unique, is it the strongest in history, is it immune from laws of history and is the global political economy it has fashioned and the culture it has spawned a role model for rest of the world? The book examines each assertion thoughtfully, not just from an ideological perspective but based on the evolution of US political economy over last nearly 250 years.Birth and expansion of capitalism spans the entire modern era beginning 1500 CE, and the entire US experience is confined to the modern era. Thus, to understand US experience, it is important to understand why historical capitalism came into existence, why it has always been global and why it has been associated with both territorial and non-territorial financial empires. Historical capitalism is simply global polarization of capital with wealth drain from other states as its principal mechanism. But it did not have to be that way since entrepreneurial freedom and individual liberties asserted in the US Constitution do not necessarily imply historical capitalism. US experience shows unmistakably that capitalism, without welfare state, without monetary and fiscal intervention and without wealth drain from other states displays debilitating economic instability and a worsening income and wealth polarization. But it has also produced incredible productivity gains. The book traces the economic history of US from its laissez faire founding to contemporary globalization and projects its future based on changes in wealth drain from other states to the US over next several decades. Book argues that communist China-centric globalization focused on offshoring of low-techgoods and services has been a strategic blunder of historic proportions that President Nixon's geo-political China policy set in motion. It has created a socialist dragon quite unlike the socialist Russian bear. The West fought and defeated the Russian bear with a protracted Cold War but funded the creation of an order of magnitude bigger dragon in China. It has led to persistent trade and budget deficits, mounting national debt, and a worsening income and wealth polarization. It has also led to financial bubbles in US equity markets. Today the US is a debtor nation and owes the world close to $10 trillion.The book warns that reversing globalization is tantamount to cutting your nose to spite your face for the US. It lays out how to optimize round two of contemporary globalization to peacefully evolve towards a future without wealth drain, ending a 500+ years long dark chapter in the history of civilization. It lays out necessary changes in domestic and global institutions to usher in a triumphant global capitalism that values entrepreneurship, individual freedoms and is genuinely democratic and equitable. Fortunately, this assessment gives the US and the world time to adjust.
