The Myth of the Decline of U.S. Capitalism

During the early part of this decade a number of writers asserted that we were entering a new historical period marking the end of U.S. world supremacy. Mustering an impressive set of dramatic events, the argument against the American century was quite convincing. In the Third World, U.S. military-technological and economic power was decisively defeated in Indo-China, resulting in the establishment of non-capitalist regimes. In addition, primary producing countries were organizing and demanding better prices and more equitable terms of exchange from the industrialized countries. The successful effort by OPEC was interpreted as a major breakthrough, signalling a drastic shift in financial and political power toward the Third World, or at least its oil beneficiaries.