AMERICAN STUDIES Winter 1989 Vol. 3, No. 4 CONTENTS FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES AND AMERICA'S MARKET ECONOMY Chen Baosen（7） Western economists have always argued whether the market is the best way to develop economy. The current crisis facing the U.S. savings and loans institutions demonstrates very well limitations of the market and thus is a forceful repudiation of the new-laisser-faire theory. On the other hand, given the imperfections of the market, government intervention cannot solve the basic contradictions of capitalism either. POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF INTEREST GROUPS IN THE UNITED STATES Li Shouqi（28） Interest groups are highly developed in the United States. Reasons can be found in the competitive nature and rapid development of U.S. society, and also in its pluralistic political system. Political participation on the part of interest groups provides a democratic and checking mechanism otherwise missing in the making of government policy, even though money often plays an unduly important role in the process. START AND AMERICA'S WAR-FIGHTING NUCLEAR STRATEGY Song Jiuguang（42） At present and for the foreseeable future, the major issue for U.S. nuclear deterrence is the survivability and further modernization of its nuclear forces. Twenty years have elapsed since the first U.S.-Soviet talks on strategic arms. Today's START undoubtedly represents a big step forward. At the same time, it must not be ignored that nuclear arms race between the superpowers has not stopped for a single moment. THOUGHTS ON THE MASSIVE RETALIATION STRATEGY Huang Chun（69） The U.S. massive retaliation strategy during Eisenhower's presidency was seriously flawed from its conception. The rapid development of Soviet nuclear weapons challenged the basic assumptions. Western European countries were worried and skeptical. The strategy could not stop the nationalist independence movement, nor could it realistically become part of the "liberation policy." The strategy also lacked flexibility in dealing with limited conflicts. INTERNAL POWER STRUCTURE OF BIG CORPORATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES Fang Shaowei（85） This essay studies the power structure of the big non-financial companies. It argues that traditional theories, i.e., manager control, family control and financial control, cannot explain the power structure of those companies; it can only be explained by a combination of manager control and stockholders' influence. Family control and financial control are only special forms of stockholders' control, while manager control alone is by no means absolute. U.S. AIR FORCE IN CHINA AND CHINA'S ANTI-JAPANESE WAR Gu Xuejia ＆ Yao Bo（101） August 1941 witnessed the formation of the Chennault-headed American Volunteer Group in the Chinese air force. Later it became the Fourteenth Air Force of the U.S. Under extremely harsh conditions, U.S. pilots fought heroically against the Japanese air force and made outstanding contribution to the victory of China's anti-Japanese war. History will always remember this episode. AMERICAN LITERATURE IN AMERICA Tao Jie（126） An important recent development in the field of literary criticism is the introduction of popular literature, feminine literature and Afro-American literature into university classrooms. This development is the result of many factors, including political tides since the 1960s, discipline reforms in the college, new writings on literary history and changes in the subject matter of literary studies. BASIC VIEWS OF AMERICAN NEO-REALISM AND ITS MATERIALIST TENDENCY Yuan Yijiang ＆ Zhang yongji（136） Neo-realism started as a philosophical movement in Europe and the United States in the early 20th century. American neo-realists made outstanding contribution to the development of this theory. Idealism, especially subjective idealism, was the major object of their criticism. To a certain degree, American neo-realism was a materialist philosophy. AMERICAN STUDIES, a quarterly, is published jointly by the Chinese Association for American Studies, and the Institute of American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The content of the articles in this journal should not be construed as reflecting the views either of the Association or the Institute.