Nationalism and Political Economy - Essay Example

Corporations that were led by large financial companies. Lenin’s theory shows that the two developments are intrinsically linked since the concentration of capital created inequality where the general population could not absorb the commodities achieve by the high level of productive capacity. From this premise, capitalist class controls the nation politically since Lenin theorized that Finance capital, which is the dominant form of capital, is useful to state machinery in colonizing the surrounding.

Though he showed that this strategy could function in the short-term, Lenin showed that in the long-term it would weaken imperialism as well as capitalism. In an inquiry of imperialism, the engagements of capitalist nations play an indispensable role and are practically an axiom of Marxist theory that nations act to defend welfares of the governing people. There are many statements to this effect in Marx’s writing even though he offered little-detailed analysis in support, however; he managed to show that states act to preserve the broad outlines of the social system since the ruling class is well organized in defending its interests.

Moreover, high-level personnel of the nation like politicians has “clear interest in preserving the existing state organization” (Hobson 153); however, this dominant mode can only result in “chaos and economic regression” (Marx & Friedrich 15) in the absence of an affirmative alternative (Lenin 96; Schumpeter 105-110). Scholars of political economy regardless of whether they are liberals, Marxists or institutionalists mostly assume questions of national identity to be marginal in the understanding of changing economic structures.

Therefore, the neglect between of the relationship between national identity and political economy, which is unfortunate since it, leaves central features of transformation unexamined. Economic nationalism can be comprehended in terms of relationships that links national identity to political economy; thus, this approach focuses on nation and understanding of the national identity as being rooted in the nation’s political economy (Polanyi 28). Thus, I believe there is need to examine economic nationalism as a form of local political struggle since it links an understanding of national identity to certain economic prescriptions.

Friedrich in his national system of political economy he considers that political economy in international commerce has drawn lessons from experiences where the measures taken have to be appropriate for the people. Loyalties in nations arise since there is no monopoly because internal competition comes in place of foreign competition ad each individual in the country has the privilege of obtaining a share of the advantages a nation offers to its citizens moreover, loyalties for nations arise from good systems of protection.