ABSTRACT
In the aftermath of the collapse of communism, it was confidently predicted that in the forthcoming battle between the ‘neo-American model’ of capitalism (most characteristic of the US and the UK) and the ‘Rhine model’ (characteristic most notably of Germany and Japan), the Rhine model would be triumphant because of its economic and social superiority, arising from an interpenetration rather than a separation (as in the US and UK) of finance and industry (Albert, 1993). However, more recent analyses of West European political economy have been less triumphalist. For example, while focusing upon the progressive undermining of national policy-making autonomy by globalisation, Rhodes has pointed to the impact of ‘subversive liberalism’ upon European welfare states, i.e. the erosion of the principles of universalism and solidarity in welfare provision and the subjugation of social progress to the exigencies of economic competition (Rhodes, 1998: 100). Furthermore, the triumph of the neo-American model over rival models of capitalism seemingly has been demonstrated by recent surveys of economic performance.
