The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-05-10

IMPERIALISM AND w " ~ Il u
ECONOMY, by Nikolai Bukharin;
International Publishers, N. Y
ITO pages.
THIS book, written in 1915 and first
published in 1917, Immediately
after the Bolshevik revolution, is
one of the historical contributions
to the Communist analysis of i'm
perialism, the final stage of capt.
talism. Examining world economy,
it's growth, its organizational forms,
in Part I, Comrade Bukharin pro-
ceeds in Part II to analyze the in
ner structure of national econo-
miles," under the growth of mon
opoly; the development of markets
and changed sale conditions, the
problem of raw materials, the world
movement of capital and the rela-
ton of the national state to world
economy. Part III deals with i'm
perialism "as the reproduction of
capitalist competition on a larger
SCALE" modern imperialism as an
historic category, the process of
concentration and Capitalization of
capital on a world scale, and the
means of competitive struggle. The
future of imperialism is the subject
of Part ", which deals with the
question of "ultra-imperialism," war
and economic evolution, and the role
of the proletariat as the historically
designated grave-digger of imper-
ialism. This is the general outline
of the book.
In the main, Comrade Bukharin's
book is systematic compilation of
evidence in support of Lenin's theses
on imperialism as the last stage Of
capitalism, with detailed examina
ton of a large number Of special
phases of the subject. The fact
that it was written fifteen years
ago does not in the least detract
from it's value, inasmuch as the
book deals with details only as eX-
employing the lines of development
of imperialism as system. "a
reservation on the influence of the
time-element will be dealt with
latc".)
Tariff Policy of Imperialism.
Without going into detailed eX-
animation Of the book as a whole
we may bring out some Of its strong
points by a few examples, begin
ming with the question of the tariff
policy of Imperialism.
The American renegades from
Communism Lovestone), who for
long paraded under the banner of
Comrade Bukharin, had curiously
enough developed theory on the
tariff which Bukharin had COM
pletely smashed in 1915. Accord
ing to Lovestone the tariff policy
of American imperialism is one of
"the lowest possible tariffs" while
the protectionist policy is merely a
hang from the pre-imperialist
epoch which is rapidly being liqui-
dated with the maturing of i'm
perialism. For Lovestone, high tar
iff was only an instrument of q
young capitalism, but with the
emergence of giant monopolies this
policy must be transformed into one
of "free trade" as the best means
of conquering the markets of the
world and collecting its bills.
Pointing out that the United
States, "that Classical country of
trusts and of the modern tariff pol
ICY" gives the clearest example,
Bukharin shows the inevitable close
connection between imperialism and
high tariff.
Establishing this as the general
tendency of Imperialism, Bukharin
concludes that "the very structure
of modern capitalism gives birth to
this form of economic policy; to-
gether with that structure it comes
into being, and together with it it
will fall"
The Question of "Organized
Capitalism
The reference to the tariff as
means to eliminate competition" in
the home market raises the ques-
ton, to what extent did Bukharin
hold those views in 1915, which
fourteen years later ripened into
his theory of organized capital
ism," the source of his sharp de-
parture from the feminist line of
the Comintern? 1t is in the answer
to this question that we must make
a grave reservation to our previous
estimation of the book as unaffected
in it's value by the intervening Ia
years since it was written; for the
reason that, while in 1915 the roots
of Bukharin's theory of organized
capitalism" which are clearly dis
cernable in this book, could be over
looked because of the impossibility
of political deviation arising there
"This is an abridgement of a re-
view that will appear in the June
issue Of the Communicated.