«Second economy» of U.S

Research examines multiple approaches to the term “second economy”, which appeared in the scientific economic community in the 70s of the XX century, and received a diametrically opposite interpretation already in the XXI century. The relevance of the topic is due to the scale of activities and the importance that the activities of American TNCs abroad, have acquired through an extensive and developed system of affiliated enterprises and foreign direct investment. The need to clarify the term “second economy” comes from the presence of many approaches to this concept, diametrically opposed to each other: in fact, there are two approaches, the first of which is based on the fact that the “second economy” or “economy number 2” is an informal, shadow, “gray” economy, the indicators of which are evaluative, and characterize illegal methods of enrichment or gaining access to benefits; the second approach is based on the fact that the “second economy” means a developed and extensive network of international production created through American direct investment - a complex of American enterprises abroad. The retrospective of the formation and development of TNCs and the filial system in the world economy, theoretical and practical approaches to the activities and especially the foreign economic expansion of monopolies during the XX century are considered in detail. The main attention in the work is paid to the peculiarities of the foreign activities of American TNCs and indicators reflecting their presence outside the national economy, so large that they form the “second economy” of the United States: the number of parent and affiliated enterprises, the geography of their presence and specialization, dynamics and other features of American enterprises are analyzed, investments abroad, as well as the impact of economic policy (tax and protectionism policy) on the volume of investment exports abroad.