ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the developments in US capitalism that fit this narrative. It suggests that the future of US capitalism may be determined less by relative advantages than by the limits of the world market in the coming period, reflecting the historical limits of capitalism itself. Financialization enabled the US to maintain its central position in the world market. The narrative presented in the chapter follows the arc Marx discerned in the history of previous leading regions. A phase of commercial and industrial advantages, followed by the loss of these advantages and a turn to financial activities. After the implosion of financialization in the 'Great Recession' US capitalism now seems poised to complete the last phase of this narrative arc: extended decline, perhaps followed by China's emergence as the next hegemonic power. This story is not without plausibility. But it overlooks aspects of US capitalism that should not be disregarded.
