The best evidence so far for the existence of an American empire, despite denials to the contrary, is the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). The persistent removal of restrictions and oversights on the domestic financial system of the US, combined with the decisions of individual firms, other governments and foreign financial organisations, culminated in the singe largest depreciation of assets and currency valuations in history, surpassing even the Great Depression in its extents. The United States created a position for itself of great power and overseer, but failed to effectively exercise these abilities; this lack of diligence has caused much controversy. The root causes of the economic downfall were a chain of decisions, made by domestic firms and law makers. Their actions contributed to and ultimately caused the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, which was the lynch pin of a whole series of linked financial flows, spreading beyond the borders of the United States. The Global Community are angry because they bought into America, figuratively and literally, and feel that they’re interests weren’t protected. They assert that the USA had a duty to protect the financial system, which it failed on multiple levels. It failed to oversee itself domestically, whilst also failing to limit and regulate its links to the international system. Given its unique (and self crafted) position in so many vital international monetary institutions (Calleo 2009, pp94-95), its use of this power was seen to be short sighted, self-serving and dangerous. By denying the risks of what it was doing and the extent of these, America was unable to manage itself or its policies with the care warranted by such a large and complex system. Only by the time ... ... middle of paper ... ...ng the first true backlash from integration with this system to affect such a wide cross section of the globe. Crucially, it also highlights the current inadequacies of international law in dealing with the day to day nature of financial markets and other tasks previously seen only on the domestic level. As states continue to advance onto the world stage, then so too must their legal systems. You cannot simply extend existing domestic policies to the international system, they don’t function; this crisis is a tipping point for states to realises this and to work together in more areas where the price for not working together can be so visibly dangerous. Unless states wish to be continually subsumed into the American empire, they need to develop their own systems and move away from seeing the USA as the sole regulator of the international economic and social systems.
The most predominate justification for imperialism, at least for business America, was to expand its economic interests throughout the world. First off, as the American domestic market for manufactured goods seemed to be shrinking many American business interests started search for ways to keep their businesses expanding; the best way to do this was to rival European imperialism and thus rival European markets (Hewitt, 622-624). Additionally, during the 1870s and 1890s the economy cycle was characterized with booms then busts but it wasn't until the depression of the 1890s did America see its greatest economic contraction; this led political and business leaders alike to search for foreign markets and create them (Hewitt, 623). Furthermore, not only were business leaders looking to sell their goods overseas by acquiring territories as a launch pad into new markets, an example of this was acquiring Guam and the Philippines to have easier access into the Chinese Market, but business leaders also looked to acquire te...
In ancient times, there was a country of stupendous power and might. A nation which amassed a military like no other, grew an economy so strong that it seemed everlasting, and established a government that stood for its people. It appeared that this was the country to set an example for all countries that followed. It was the behemoth of prosperity. It was the great Roman Empire. It seemed as though this country’s reign would never end, but this was far from the truth. For with great prosperity came a dreadful plummet and eventually collapse. This was the unfortunate fate of all powerful nations, including that of, dare it be said, the United States of America. The all powerful and unbeatable nation which reigned its dominant influence over the entire world. Surely, it could never have fallen. However, that statement would be considered nonsensical if directed toward the once almighty and all powerful Roman Empire. Thus, it could not be stated for the “Great Experiment” (USA). Which was why the comparison between the two, very similar, superpowers was logical. Clearly, the Roman Empire which had striking parallels to the United States was a foreshadowing of America’s fate: Inevitable collapse. Both superpowers had vastly similar economics, foreign influence, and government, of which, Rome had experienced an unfortunate decline. Thus, comparisons could be made between how Rome and America rose to power, began to lose their power, and eventually, how Rome fell and how America might have fallen.
Fallows article was compelling and insightful as he presented the issues regarding America’s apparently impending collapse. His ability to compare the United States to China introduced a unique perspective to the analysis as he showed that the nation might be falling behind its Asian counterpart. However, an analysis of the US with the European Union reveals that America is still not as badly off. If the right changes are made within the governance system and perhaps the constitution, the United States will successfully stave off their assumed decline and reinstate its position as a global hegemony.
The global financial crisis affected the many advance economies, particularly the United States. Unemployment significantly increased, people were evicted from their homes, and the search for employment was a dead end. However, Canada was not affected with the same force as the United States: “Canada’s financial sector was less affected than most advanced economies and it had the highest bank soundness rating in the World Economic Forum surveys from 2007-2008 through 2012-2013.” Despite the relatively stable status of the Canadian economy, Canada was very much involved in the review and improvement of international financial regulations. Canada was in a position to make changes to financial regulations due to their perceived experience in the matter, as Canada escaped the crisis relatively unscathed. Canadian delegates were placed in charge of four core areas in the reformation of financial policy and, “in all these areas, Canada was able to successfully push for reforms that resonated with its experiences and interests in enhanced financial sector regulation and supervision.” This crisis, and the successful reformations that came out of it, further installed Canada as a leader in economics, firmly inaugurating them as the world’s best bankers.
Every few years, countries experience an economic decline which is commonly referred to as a recession. In recent years the U.S. has been faced with overcoming the most devastating global economic hardships since the Great Depression. This period “a period of declining GDP, accompanied by lower real income and higher unemployment” has been referred to as the Great Recession (McConnell, 2012 p.G-30). This paper will cover the issues which led to the recession, discuss the strategies taken by the Government and Federal Reserve to alleviate the crisis, and look at the future outlook of the U.S. economy. By examining the nation’s economic struggles during this time period (2007-2009), it will conclude that the current macroeconomic situation deals with unemployment, which is a direct result of the recession.
subprime mortgages were major factors of the collapse of the 2007-2009 economy collapse. All of America suffered from the 2008 recession.
During the last 40 years of the nineteenth century the United States became the worlds greatest economic power. The rapid rate of economic growth happened for a
There is perhaps no other political issue in our contemporary society that is more pertinent, pervasive, and encompassing than a nation’s economy. From the first coins used in Greece and the Asia Minor in the 7th century BCE, to the earliest uses of paper money, history has proven time and time again that the control of a region’s economy is absolutely crucial to maintaining social stability and prosperity. Yet, for over a century scholars have continued to speculate why the United States, one of the world’s strongest and most influential countries, has one of the most unstable economies. Although the causes of this economic instability can be attributed to multiple factors, nearly all economists agree that they have a common ancestor: the Federal Reserve Bank – the official central bank of the United States. Throughout the course of this paper, I will attempt to determine whether or not there is a causal relationship between the Federal Reserve Bank’s monetary policies and the decline of the U.S. economy. I will do this through a brief analysis of the history and role of this institution, in addition to the central banking system in general. In turn, I will argue that the reckless and intentional manipulation of the economy by the Federal Reserve Bank, through inflation and the abolishment of the gold standard, has led to the current economic crisis in the United States.
In the years following the Civil War, the American economy was suffering from extreme disorder. However, during the late 1800s and early 1900s, important leaders of American industry arose, essentially transforming the American financial system from chaos to efficiency. These powerful men shaped America into a world superpower and the country’s economy sparked jealousy across the globe. Their contributions to business positively affected not only the United States’ economy, but society as well. Andrew Carnegie, John Davison Rockefeller, and John Pierpont Morgan reflect on the mammoth industrial age of America.
For years, America has always been perceived as one of the top world powers due to its ability of achieving so much technological, economical, and social progress within a mere couple decades. Despite their great accomplishments, America is actually regressing psychologically, preventing the country from reaching its true potential as an “opportunity rich” country. In Anthony Burgess’ Is America Falling Apart? , the author unveils the circumstances in which America’s restricting society and selfish ideology cause the nation to develop into the type of society it tried to avoid becoming when it separated from the British Empire.
Eichengreen, Barry. Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1996.
The "subprime crises" was one of the most significant financial events since the Great Depression and definitely left a mark upon the country as we remain upon a steady path towards recovering fully. The financial crisis of 2008, became a defining moment within the infrastructure of the US financial system and its need for restructuring. One of the main moments that alerted the global economy of our declining state was the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers on Sunday, September 14, 2008 and after this the economy began spreading as companies and individuals were struggling to find a way around this crisis. (Murphy, 2008) The US banking sector was first hit with a crisis amongst liquidity and declining world stock markets as well. The subprime mortgage crisis was characterized by a decrease within the housing market due to excessive individuals and corporate debt along with risky lending and borrowing practices. Over time, the market apparently began displaying more weaknesses as the global financial system was being affected. With this being said, this brings into question about who is actually to assume blame for this financial fiasco. It is extremely hard to just assign blame to one individual party as there were many different factors at work here. This paper will analyze how the stakeholders created a financial disaster and did nothing to prevent it as the credit rating agencies created an amount of turmoil due to their unethical decisions and costly mistakes.
Many of the “Elite” financial figures could not give a definite answer about why this crisis occurred as well as stated by many of the people interviewed, “We don’t know how it happened.” Many young brokers working for JP Morgan back in the middle of the 90’s believed they could come up with a way to cut risk, credit derivatives. Credit Derivatives are just a way of using other methods to separate and transfer risk to someone else other than the vender and free up capital. They tested their experiment with Exxon Mobile who were facing millions of dollars in damage for the Valdez Oil Spill back in 1989 by extending their line of credit. This also gave birth to credit default swaps (CDS) which a company wants to borrow money from someone who will buy their bond and pay the buyer back with interest over time. Once the JP Morgan and Exxon Mobile credit default swap happened, others followed in their path and the CDS began booming throughout the 90’s. The issue was that many banks in...
In this paper, I will argue that the current system is hegemonial. My explanation to hegemony will then be centered on the sources of the United States as a hegemonial power. Furthermore, I will state the different primary implications associated with the rise of China and what the Roman Empire offers for understanding the United Sta...
Warwick J. McKibbin, and Andrew Stoeckel. “The Global Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequences.” Lowy Institute for International Policy 2.09 (2009): 1. PDF file.