Interdependence of China and the United States - Global Capitalism with Richard Wolff

Prof Wolff explains all the ways the U.S. and China depend on one another for production, finance and economic access. This is one of the major differences between the Cold War politics between the U.S. and Soviet Union and what is happening today.

"There's an interdependence. China wants the benefits of the technology, of the connections that it brings for them to invite, as they have done, foreign capitalists to invest in China. But the very fact that foreign capitalists have creates the interdependence between them. And I want to stress it because comparable interdependencies didn't exist between the United States and the Soviet Union and that had a great deal to do with the so-called Cold War and with the whole history of post
World War 2 global economic events. The interdependence I'm describing between the U.S. and China did not exist between the United States and the Soviet Union." - Richard Wolff

This is a clip from the November 2021 Global Capitalism Lecture: China - US’s First Real Competitor in a Century
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Stuck Nation: Can the United States Change Course on Our History of Choosing Profits Over People?

“Hennelly brilliantly analyzes our capitalist crises and how individuals cope with them, tragically but often heroically. He helps us draw inspiration and realistic hope from how courageous Americans are facing and fixing a stuck nation.”
- Richard D. Wolff

[petercua]

Many American will not understand this or don't want to understand this.

[orionmedivh]

On top of these several points mentioned, China is also the reason that the world, including United States, had enjoyed 20 years of low inflation, even including the pandemic year 2020. Without China fully supporting the world by overloading its factories to produce goods, masks, protection garment and medical equipment while factories in other countries were shut off, the pandemic could get much much worse, multiple times of the shortage of goods and price hikes in 2021.
The US dollar also had largely shifted away from being backed by oil, to being backed by cheap Chinese goods since the 2000s — the best proof is that the oil price had gone up and down many times but the US dollar is quite stable throughout the years. The last thing the Americans want, no matter how much they dislike China, is to decouple or even start a war with it. If a war ever broke out between the countries, the dollar would lose it backbone and the economy of United States would crash.

[ashavahishta]

The interdependence between China and the US is the same as that of Japan and the US in 70s, except that China has its own financial sovereignty and Japan does not.
And this is why China can defeat the US in the international trading system established by the US itself.

[biryukovveden]

Latest data at 2021 on China's trading partners sorted by US$ :

1. ASEAN countries
2. Europe
3. North America

US no longer the top of the food chain for China's goods.

[JimHoh]

When it comes to how to use the money wisely on the civilians, American spent most of its money on military, three times as big as China. US has the biggest military budget in the world, the biggest compare with the other top ten countries combined. However, US has been very frugal when it comes to how to use the money to improve the living and social landscape of its civilian. The lack of care of US government to its people is not the cause of drain of wealth to China, it is that the US government is not using it's money wisely.

[talorzwilliamz]

As someone living and working 8n China the last few years, I appreciate this so much because prevailing narrative is toxic, biased and xenophobic. Thank you Prof Wolff.

[aylbdrmadison]

When I was a child in the 1970's there were small businesses everywhere. Every neighborhood in my city had a grocery store, an electronics repair shop, an automotive repair shop, a tailor, and even a cobbler. You could just walk to buy anything you needed. One person with a full time minimum wage job could afford to *buy* a house just a 20 minute drive from San Fransisco. Buy sustainability. Buy Local. Buy quality. Buy repairable. Support small business, *not* corporations.

[abbkell]

Very well said professor. The problem here is there are no many intellectuals well experienced and educated who have the courage to say this and spread it to many people in North America. What is worst about what you have elaborated is, more and more people are afraid even to admit let alone to tell the realities that benefits them. Everything and everyone is ending stuck between choices on doing what we have been doing for the past at least thirsty years or change the courses based on realities

[emole]

An excellent and educational explanation of how things really work. It should be broadcast on the established tv stations, CNN, BBC, NOS, ect. ect.

[GhostOnTheHalfShell]

The relation of the US to China is similar to the UK to the EU. The UK cut itself off from its largest market and largest source of goods. The UK is very trade intensive, but now their exports wither and imports soar.

[jaycasbon]

Excellent analysis - we need to expand the discussion beyond the toxic narrative into a conversation about fair trade, strategic interests of China and USA, how interdependence can work well for both countries. We do need to curtail our dependence on Chinese credit and soon.

[ameliathomas]

Things are getting worse, it's so bad that having a job doesn't mean financial security

[johnnylim]

Good lesson. Hopefully the idiotic congressmen and women of USA knows about these instead of trying to provoke China.

[whirledpeas]

US multinational companies pay Chinese manufacturers about $5 for an iPhone, $2 for a pair of Nike shoes and $1 for a Nordstrom sweater. This is how much China gets.

[josehawkins]

At some point, the Chinese will say, I don’t want your dollars anymore.

[jennyohara]

I have been China twice..Society so calm and neat.. love it

[modemmark]

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the Corporate states of America, and to the Republicans for which it stands, one nation under debt, easily divisible, with liberty and justice for *Oil.*

[jonblaze]

I don't understand why, if the US is in such debt do they keep raising the military budget even without the military wanting such money? Important folks in the military has said that the US spends too much on the military but Congress still increases their budget.

[unveiledeyes]

This simple truth is unfortunately lost in the current noise and irrational rhetoric emanating from America... and the backlash is Chinese are wondering why should they continue with this relationship and financing of America where such funds are gonna feed a monster that is hell bent on devouring it!

[garou]

one could make the case that the american saber rattling is akin to the behavior of a debtor trying to weasel out of paying their debt.