Külpolitika - A Magyar Külügyi Intézet elméleti-politikai folyóirata - 1986 (13. évfolyam)
1986 / 1. szám - KÖNYVEKRŐL - A külpolitika 1985. évi tartalommutatója
of many attacks against the federal government of the United States, no.t only from inside but also from outside, since in order to finance the deficit, the administration must increasingly take up loans. Due to the great demand in credits, interest rates stabilize at a high level, which in turn attracts a hpge quantity of foreign capital into a country best provided with capital. Despite endeavours —or rather declarations—by the Reagan administration, it seems that the American economy will have to live together with a budget deficit tor several years to come. The elimination of the deficit will be possible primarily on the expenditure side because an increase of the income through hiking the taxes would be an exceedingly high price to pay since it would bring along a slowdown in the economic growth. Miklós L. Tengerdi Relations of forces in the world economy, international influence and economic policy in the 1980s The article gives an analysis of the United States’ world economic positions in the company sphere, in international trade and in foreign direct investments. In the company sphere, there is no sign of worsening in the United States’ world economic positions. Just the opposite: the more favourable profit rates by the big American companies and the organizational power resulted by bigger company dimensions indicate the upvalua- tion of their organizational bargaining force in the current stage of world economic relations. The redistribution of profits for the benefit of the bigger companies and the company- organizational bargaining force—in wake of leading positions by American companies and their increasing share in the international division of labour—at the same time indicate that also in the dimensions of the world economy, the incomes are regrouping to the benefit of the United States in a greater extent than to the benefit of the national economy. As a new trend in international goods exports, the losing of ground by the United States that had been characteristic for more than two decades, came to a halt in 1978. The comparative American advantages are most significant primarily in branches demanding R and D and highly qualified work force, where the over the average R and D investments are reimbursed by big production series. In addition to leading technical branches, the positions of the United States also strengthened in the international servicing trades that are linked to up-to-date branches and are utilizing the results of this latter. The improvement of American world economic positions, in the up-to-date brauche/ is inseparable from putting into action the organizational bargaining force of the transnational companies. In acquiring technical-technological annuities, the big companies are playing an outstanding role. As a contrast however, the American world economic positions did not improve but in certain cases even worsened in leading branches of the technical-structural transformation. Since the reimbursement of R and D investments cannot be guaranteed in leading branches if technical-development results are being realized through traditional trade transactions or license trade, the exports of up-to- date branches is closely linked to capital turnover, proprietory interpenetration. In the international turnover of functioning capital, the utilization of the United States’ comparative advantages and superiority in technical development is linked, in the production sphere, to the most up-to-date leading branches, both in the relation of the developing and the developed capitalist countries. In the relations of the developed capitalist countries however, the utilization of the comparative American advantages is being increasingly shifted to the field of servicing, i. e. to the field of financial, trade and insurance servicing, which are either directly or indirectly linked to marketing. Thus, there can be seen efforts for obtaining indirect influence at a time when, in the field of supplies, the competitiveness is getting stronger on a world scale. As regards the developing countries, there are still reserves left to control the production vertical through indirect capital investments, although the emphasis shifted to the processing industry from the extracting industry for a longer period now. In enforcing world economic influence, the economic policy of a given country or group of countries os playing a great role. A properly chosen economic policy that corresponds to the internal and external conditions is suitable to counterbalance also a backlog in world economy. IX
