98 Stephen Hymer perfect replica of a Parker pen-as far as I could tell-manufactured in China;it sells in Iran for 50 cents,and in Singapore for 40 cents.)The scramble for China's surplus labor is just beginning. The Third World also will be an important battleground in the coming years."Capitalist production,"wrote Marx,"first makes the production of commodities general,and then,by degrees,transforms all commodity production into capitalist commodity production"(Capital,vol.2,p. 34).The great commercial revolution in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century transformed the Third World into export econo- mies,based for the most part on plantation,peasant,or contract labor systems rather than free markets for capital and labor.The resulting evolution led in the forties and fifties to national independence move- ments and a great increase in urbanization,infrastructure,and education. Large absolute numbers of people (often still a small percentage of the population)became concentrated in the cities,ready,able,and willing to sell their labor power.Standards of consumption have remained low due to the large supply of this free labor,while potential productivity has increased substantially due to the government's expansion of education, urban and industrial infrastructure,and other services. Potential surplus labor is large,while the local capitalist class is weak, due to the restraints placed on it during the colonial period.Many multinationals have begun to tap this cheap labor supply,originally to displace imports,but now to expand exports to other underdeveloped countries and to the developed world.This phase of international in- vestment is just beginning,but is likely to grow rapidly when one considers the plentiful supply of labor.The big danger to the multina- tionals is the possibility of socialism or state capitalism which will prevent the transformation of commodity production into capitalist com- modity production,that is,prevent the transfer of the power of Asiatic and Egyptian kings,Etruscan theocrats,and so forth,over collective labor to the multinational capitalist. The large firms of the world are all competing for these various sources of future growth,but in an oligopolistic rather than in a cutthroat way.They recognize their mutual interdependence and strive to share in the pie without destroying it.As they do so,they come to be less and less dependent on their home country's economy for their profits,and more and more dependent on the world economy.Conflicts between firms on the basis of nationality are thereby transformed into in- ternational oligopolistic market sharing and collusion. Internationalization of Capital The second great lever of capital concentration and centralization is This content downloaded from 202.120.14.154 on Mon,04 Jan 2016 03:31:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions98 Stephen Hymer perfect replica of a Parker pen - as far as I could tell - manufactured in China; it sells in Iran for 50 cents, and in Singapore for 40 cents.) The scramble for China's surplus labor is just beginning. The Third World also will be an important battleground in the coming years. "Capitalist production," wrote Marx, "first makes the production of commodities general, and then, by degrees, transforms all commodity production into capitalist commodity production" (Capital, vol. 2, p. 34). The great commercial revolution in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century transformed the Third World into export econo￾mies, based for the most part on plantation, peasant, or contract labor systems rather than free markets for capital and labor. The resulting evolution led in the forties and fifties to national independence move￾ments and a great increase in urbanization, infrastructure, and education. Large absolute numbers of people (often still a small percentage of the population) became concentrated in the cities, ready, able, and willing to sell their labor power. Standards of consumption have remained low due to the large supply of this free labor, while potential productivity has increased substantially due to the government's expansion of education, urban and industrial infrastructure, and other services. Potential surplus labor is large, while the local capitalist class is weak, due to the restraints placed on it during the colonial period. Many multinationals have begun to tap this cheap labor supply, originally to displace imports, but now to expand exports to other underdeveloped countries and to the developed world. This phase of international in￾vestment is just beginning, but is likely to grow rapidly when one considers the plentiful supply of labor. The big danger to the multina￾tionals is the possibility of socialism or state capitalism which will prevent the transformation of commodity production into capitalist com￾modity production, that is, prevent the transfer of the power of Asiatic and Egyptian kings, Etruscan theocrats, and so forth, over collective labor to the multinational capitalist. The large firms of the world are all competing for these various sources of future growth, but in an oligopolistic rather than in a cutthroat way. They recognize their mutual interdependence and strive to share in the pie without destroying it. As they do so, they come to be less and less dependent on their home country's economy for their profits, and more and more dependent on the world economy. Conflicts between firms on the basis of nationality are thereby transformed into in￾ternational oligopolistic market sharing and collusion. Internationalization of Capital The second great lever of capital concentration and centralization is This content downloaded from 202.120.14.154 on Mon, 04 Jan 2016 03:31:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions