SOC 104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: American Imperialism, Structural Adjustment, Free Trade

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 104
• Professor: Rebecca Lock

Document Summary

The free flow of capital around the world is enabled by . Free trade agreements: making investments in foreign countries lucrative for tncs. Loans and rules: imf, world banks, and structural adjustment programs (austerity) The terms of the international rules and loans are controlled by wealthy nations. The president of the world bank typically comes from the biggest shareholder nation. Rather than the free flow of capital improving all economies . Wealthier economies extract much of the wealth from poorer countries as they enter the global economy. Us military interventions historically show the priority of economic interest with cover stories of freedom and democracy. The us resists international forms of accountability that may affect them economically. Changes in the role of the state: the reduced degree to which the state regulates the economic sphere, the reduced degree to which nation states are sovereign entities. The consequences: the increase in international economic interdependence of nation states, but with power imbalances.