The centers of the global economy

Thèmes abordés

Arrighi, "global economy", centers, population, geopolitics, Europe, China, India, power, GDP, metropolis

Résumé du document

The objective of this paper is to answer the following questions using the theory of "global economy centers" (Arrighi) as a reference.

What countries could potentially become the future center of the world economy? What events/circumstance have put it in a position to eventually become the hegemony? What
needs to happen in the future in order for it to become a world economic power?

Extraits

[...] What countries could potentially become the future center of the world economy? What events/circumstance have put it in a position to eventually become the hegemony? What needs to happen in the future in order for it to become a world economic power? Introduction I. The key characteristics of a global economy center A. Key indicators reflecting dominance B. The two conditions of Arrighi's theory C. A Gunder Frank: the importance of US remaining assets II. The population factor A. The importance of a critical size. [...]

[...] A main critic against his theory is that he considers that the global wealth as a closed amount of goods that is shared among the countries. That is why he believes every time a country gets richer, another gets poorer, which means at least that a global economic progress is impossible as progress must be made at the expense of someone else. However, his idea of a center maintaining the other satellites in a state of dependence in order to sustain it hegemony cannot be totally rejected. [...]

[...] Map of countries which claimed they wanted th to become/remain superpowers in the XXI century. CIA factbook 2009. French Bank report n°120, December 2003, P41. http://www.banque-france.fr/archipel/publications/bdf_bm/etudes_bdf_bm/bdf_bm_120_etu_2.pdf A G Frank, Development of underdevelopment” Monthly review reprint 1989. Course document. [...]

[...] Indicators reflecting dominance If we consider the following figures of the six “global players”, the US seems to remain the center of the global economy4. In fact key indicators show that the US economy is still the first in the world (EU GDP is higher, but the status of the Union is still unclear, it is still a non consolidated political power). Countries United States European Union China Brazil Russia India Share of world nominal GDP Share of world military spending Share of world population Other indicators as the share of the national currencies in the international exchanges or the exchanges, commercial balance can be considered as signs of economic power, but we have to keep in mind that these indicators remain statement tools They can show past evolution and present situation, which tools. [...]

[...] hey 7 French Bank report n°120, December 2003, P41. http://www.banque-france.fr/archipel/publications/bdf_bm/etudes_bdf_bm/bdf_bm_120_etu_2.pdf france.fr/archipel/publications/bdf_bm/etudes_bdf_bm/bdf_bm_120_etu_2.pdf III. Evaluating the chances The purpose of this last part is to make a brief analysis of the assets and liabilities for the three main population cores of the world. A. Assets and limits of the challengers Europe Europe was the birth place of the global system, it benefited of several centuries of capital accumulation and the US reconstruction plan saved Europe from bankruptcy after the WWII. Now Europe is part of the world with the most important infrastructures with a technological level close to the US. [...]