The U.S. Economy and China Capitalism, Class, and Crisis.

UNITED States economy, 2001-2009; INTERNATIONAL economic relations; CHINA-United States relations; INTERNATIONAL business enterprises; CAPITAL movements; LABOR laws; LIVING wage movement; LABOR union laws

UNITED StatesReport Available; CHINAReport Available

The article discusses difficulties in the U.S. economy and addresses the popular understanding that trade policies followed by China are primarily responsible for the situation. It argues instead that the threat to U.S. manufacturing comes not from China but from a transnational, corporate production system which uses China as its final assembly location. It notes as well that, while transnational capital interests and elites in China have profited from the system, Chinese workers have suffered some of the same problems as workers in the U.S. It argues in favor of challenging capital mobility, changing labor laws to ensure living wages and the right to unionize and guarantee of a job for all who want to work.