Imperialism, Dollarisation and the Euro

Abstract

If the notion of globalization is as rich in ideological substance as it is poor in heuristic content, analysis requires a different frame of analysis than that offered by globalization theorists. This essay shall argue that the phenomena the theorists of globalization deal with should be seen from an opposite frame of analysis, one focusing on the world imperialist system and the new developments and contradictions within it. Elements of such an alternative view are submitted, even if in a necessarily sketchy form, in section 2. By way of example, section 3 focuses upon one aspect of this new imperialist dimension, that of international seigniorage and of the struggle between the dollar and the Euro as an aspect of inter-imperialist rivalries. Finally, section 4 draws some conclusions on the class structure emerging from these developments.