The Making Of Global Capitalism: The Political Economy Of American Empire

03-03-23 What can I say. Leo Panitch nails it. 3 other people that I know have read it now.

One of the curiousities of the death of our beloved Left has been the ascription, and often self-identification, of "Marxism" to middle-aged scholars who might have read a Kapital or three in their youth, but now are virtually Marx-free in their waking hours.Panitch and Gindin have written an exhaustive (keep the coffee mug nearby) journalism of our times, scrupulously researched and fair to the majordomos and cap di tutti capi of our corporate state supersystem, which is not the greatest of compliments - do we really need to be so kind to Timmie Geithner, to Larry Summers, to the whole host of scoundrels and mountebanks that have shepherded the global financial fraud? If you want that kind of sober information, which documents the stranglehold the American capitalist governance structure has upon the world, this is a fine place, but it is laughable to suggest that there is any "promise" or "solution" that will come out of these ashes. Aside from a "class relations" or two, this radical writing will not tax the nominal academo-liberal trained to spit derision when within eye-blink of Grundrisse or "use-value."

The first review presents most points of the book much better than I could. But, if you do not know much about Economics, historically speaking, it is not a "fun" read. But it is a good read.

Probably one of the most important books written on the political economy of American empire. Pretty impressive list of references and a wide coverage of various aspects of making of Global capitalism since the end of second world war.

Interesting book. Received as ebook.

Damn print font is too small and not intense enough in color to be comfortably read. ???

This book needs to be on every bookshelf. It's a grind but when you finish you will know how America works

Great book. Damning and well argued, without any sensationalist rhetoric. My favorite kind of nonfiction: "Just the facts."

This is a book about several things: why did the crisis of 2007 happen, and why did it not kill neoliberalism? Why has the left's response been so feeble, and what could it do better? But it is above all a world-historical account of the rise of global capitalism, and the class forces within the American state that made this possible. It is an exercise, to this extent, in Marxist state theory. And it is remarkable for its combination of empirical rigour with theoretical sophistication.

I read just about first 100 pages but I am quite satisfied with the quality of the research. It is very appealing when the authors try to be politically neutral and objective while studying the subject.

Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin have collaborated on a book, "The Making of Global Economy: the Political Economy of American Empire" (i.e. of U.S. neo-colonialism) that combines the virtues of deep analysis and clear language (and clear thinking, too). They do not deal in persiflage that sounds impressive but which ill serves a wide readership; Panitch and Gindin avoid unnecessary resort to jargon. It is refreshing to have a Canadian perspective upon the phenomena which they examine, all the more so since the authors are genuinely progressive, even socialist, in their analysis, without being hide-bound or doctrinaire.That said, while the public for which they intend their book is wide, it still is for one that has the resolve to take on dense argument and uncompromising depth. The work is not a "quick read" by any stretch of the imagination. The rather small print and profusion of back-references, the latter too replete with much that is substantive and important to the case which the book makes to ignore, can tire the reader, making the volume arduous to handle navigating back and forth within it.The hardback edition is well and fully bound, ruggedly and durably, with reasonably spaced margins to left and right of pages, but the binding is a tighter than ideal, requiring some effort on the reader's part to hold the pages flat enough for viewing the pages while going forward and back nimbly (and continually) between the main text and the notes. The reader will need two bookmarks while using the book; this reader added two slender coloured ribbons for the purpose to the binding spine of his own copy; that, of course, is seldom an option for this or most books' paperback editions.For those who can persevere in reading it through, this mighty work bears great rewards for those who assay it. For others, too, those who use it as a resource and a reference, rather than read it in entirety, the book also is eminently worth having in one's personal collection and, fortunately for those users, the book is indexed. There is no separate bibliography in the book, but if one patiently mines the bibliographical citations in the notes, the book provides an excellent key to the best literature, rather than just to to a lot of the neo-conservative and emptily theoretical tripe that so many other books on economics mention too exclusively.

Ginden is thought provoking as always, with attention to detail and careful analysis.

A must read book for all students of Political Economy