The persistence of this economic inefªciency seems dysfunctional for the
global economy, to the extent that we understand the global economy to be a
site of abstract universal equality. On the other hand, economic inefªciency can
be seen as functional for the global economy if we understand it as a political
economic order, under US hegemony, and increasingly sustained through the
“hyperconsumption” or “overconsumption” of a relatively small elite. Rather
than seeking efªciency in the abstract, economic transactions always take place
in a particular rule-bound order where speciªc actors with particular interests
set the rules that govern the economy