20.2. The three world centers of capitalism

Integration as the leading trend of world development is accompanied by intense competition between the three main centers of the world economy (USA, Western Europe and Japan), which took shape in the second half of the 20th century. In turn, the increasing competition to a certain extent stimulates the integration process within the three centers, constantly pushing them to expand the orbit of their action.

USA. In the competition for markets and spheres of influence, each of the three main centers relies on the advantages of its position on the scale of the world economy. So, the USA has the most powerful industrial and scientific and technical potential, a capacious domestic market, many natural resources, occupy a very convenient geopolitical space, have huge foreign investments. Special consideration should be given to the power of American TNCs, on the basis of which the “second economy” operates outside the country, as well as their superiority in the military field.

Western Europe . The West European Center uses the most widely developed intraregional ties, the close intertwining of complementary structures, the leading position in the sphere of internationalization of production and capital. In addition, Western European countries are intensively using long-standing ties with their former colonies in Africa, the Mediterranean, the Pacific and the Caribbean.

Japan. The third center - Japan, without having many of the factors of its competitors, focuses on the effective use of advanced foreign technology, and more recently, more domestic technology; on the rational use of imported resources. Special attention is paid to the problem of adaptability, adaptability of the country's economy to modern requirements, its mobility; concentration of scientific and technical forces in the field of knowledge-intensive industries, productivity growth, cost reduction, design.

The dynamics of the ratio of the three world centers of capitalism. Until the end of the 60s, the United States ensured economic, financial and technological superiority over the other two centers. However, during the 1960s-1980s, their monopolistic position in many positions was lost or shaken. For example, at present Japan has become the second largest producer in the world in terms of total output, equaling with the United States in terms of exports; in per capita production, Japan in 1988 overtook the United States. Over twenty-five years, the share of the United States in the total gross product of developed countries decreased from 53% (in 1960) to 41% (in the mid-1980s), while the share of Western Europe grew from 35% to 36%, respectively. and in Japan, from 5 to 15%, and so on. More slowly than in Japan and Europe in the USA, labor productivity increases, they are lower than in the past in basic research and development. The pressure on the USA and in the field of export of capital, especially from Japan, is increasing.

The well-known redistribution of positions between the three world centers is a reflection of an important feature of modern economic development and competitive struggle in the world market. No country today is able to ensure its full superiority in almost all positions, as it was, say, in the XVIII, XIX centuries. on the example of England. To take a leading position in the conditions of an immeasurably deepened process of the international division of labor is possible only in certain areas of the world economy, which is confirmed by the results of the rivalry between the United States, Western Europe and Japan.