Minqi Li is Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Utah and the author of The Rise of China and the Demise of the Capitalist World Economy among other publications. This lecture was delivered at the Marxist School of Sacramento on 21 May 2009.

Taking his subject from his new book of the same name, Li tells us that the spread and growth of capitalism has always required low wages, taxation and environmental costs. It has also required a dominant nation to preserve these conditions against international competition.

With the decline of the economic power of the United States, it will lose that hegemonic role, and the unprecedented growth of China will so erode the foundations of capital accumulation—by pushing wages and environmental costs up, for example—that the entire capitalist system will be shaken to its core.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Some reviews:

Truthout
Socialist Review