Keywords
Investimento Direto Externo
Estados Unidos
Abstract
The objective of this study is to analyze the causes, characteristics, and consequences of
the internationalization of U.S. capital between 1945 and 1971, a period spanning the
rise and crisis of the Golden Age of Capitalism. We address the challenges faced by U.S.
corporations in the immediate post-war period regarding their internationalization and the
mechanisms through which these challenges were overcome during the decade following
World War II. The study examines the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI)
and U.S. foreign policy, as well as the profile of FDI undertaken—considering geographic
location, volume, and sectors. Finally, we assess the impact of capital internationalization on inter-capitalist and inter-state relations, on the external accounts of the United States, and on
the formation of multinational capital. The research leads to the following conclusions: i) the
economic and geopolitical uncertainties of the immediate post-war period were responsible
for U.S. capital’s initial reluctance to internationalize—a reluctance later overcome by the
resumption of global growth and the consolidation of U.S. foreign and national security
policy; ii) external investments were concentrated in economically advanced countries and
in sectors related to manufacturing and the oil industry; iii) the FDI undertaken during this
period consolidated the power of American capital within the framework of oligopolistic
competition, mitigated balance of payments problems, and universalized the consumption and
technological patterns radiating from the United States and its multinational corporations.