The interplays of US, China and their intellectual monopolies

Abstract

Beyond the US-China watershed and supposedly polar state ideologies (liberal and pro-free- market in the US and dominated by state planning in China), this article delves into the shared traits of these powerful states. The US -at least since the Second World War- and China since 1978 share a systematic and highly oriented industrial policy directed to spur innovation in chosen sectors. In both cases, policies have been entangled with corporate interests and contribute to explaining the emergence of intellectual monopolies, precisely dominating each state’s privileged industries and technologies. Furthermore, each state’s geopolitical power relies on its respective intellectual monopolies. However, besides the support of each state, intellectual monopolies control global production and innovation networks constituting their own republics, which formally overlap with portions of different states. Intellectual monopolies also minimize their paid taxes while increasing wealth concentration. Contemporary capitalism is always on the brink of a global collapse as core states and intellectual monopolies are simultaneously friends and foes. We end this contribution with a preliminary analysis of these complexities.