US foreign investment by Doug Henwood 18 April 2002 19:43 UTC
Doug: It's widely believed that foreign investment is largely about chasing low wages. But most FDI is targeted at high-income countries. It's also widely believed that imperial investment is the source of superprofits that power the whole system; that doesn't seem to be borne out by the data either. ^^^^^^^ CB: Some uses of the term "superprofits" do not confine it to those derived from foreign investment. It may also refer to extra profits derived from racist discrimination within the U.S. , as well as monopoly profits of all types , whether foreignly or domestically derived. However, I agree that superprofits from superexploitation of lower waged workers is also alleged. I am not clear on whether the fact is only that the great bulk of foreign direct investment is in relatively high wage countries or whether the rate of profit is higher from domestic investments than investments in lower income countries as well.
