Introduction

Competition on a global scale invites capitalists everywhere to shape up to international standards on price and quality, or go out of business. The underlying nature of the chase is not for individual capitalists to each spread across the globe, but to compete in open battle for a share of profits; for it is a chase in which there is increasingly nowhere to hide. Nation state policies no longer provide sanctuary from the chase. Capitalism has always been international, but the development of a comprehensive integration of capital markets establishes the qualitative difference of the period. National policies increasingly see labour, its income and productivity, as the key to an 'internationally competitive economy'. National policy is seen to reinforce the international nature of capitalist class relations. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.