Extract from development, underdevelopment, dependence, marginality and special imbalances towards a global approach: the age of Neo mercantilism

Abstract

The beginning of the end of laissez-faire, as has been suggested came with the challenge of British predominance by other European powers and the United States, which sought to establish their own empires or areas of economic and political influence with corresponding mercantilism policies and practices. The first world war, which was partly a consequence of this rivalry, the breakdown of the international monetary and financial system based on the gold standard. The great depression and the second world war, left the United States alone in the post-war period as the dominant power within the capitalist system. The most important element in the emergence of neomercantilism in the capitalist bloc consists of two main phenomena: the rise of a new form of business organization - the transnational conglomerate and the greatly expanded economic role of the government.