Sean Starrs is a lecturer in international development at King’s College London
A focus on GDP and national accounts gives a misleading picture of US economic power. In the age of globalization, production can be based in countries like China while most of the profits flow back to American firms, reinforcing US economic hegemony.
China’s stock market crash was a fleeting convulsion. Its system of authoritarian capitalism is unscathed.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is about expanding US hegemony in East Asia.