Link to this page: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/691/13028
From The Socialist newspaper, 26 October 2011
The whole world in its hands
Simon Carter
The sovereign debt and eurozone crises, the Great Recession, etc, have all focussed attention on the failings of the banking sector and the greedy giant capitalist corporations. But exactly how powerful is finance capital in the world?
Posing and answering this question is not new. Lenin's famous booklet - Imperialism: the highest stage of capitalism - did just that at the turn of the 20th century.
But of course the capitalist world economy has grown immeasurably since then and the tentacles of finance capital appear to grasp every corner of the globe more tightly.
And, indeed, this is the case according to a study by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, reported in New Scientist.
The Swiss number crunchers used a 2007 database listing 37 million companies and investors internationally from which they extracted 43,060 'transnational companies' and the share ownerships linking them. "Then they constructed a model of which companies controlled others through shareholding networks, coupled with each company's operating revenues, to map the structure of economic power." (New Scientist 22/10/11)
What this exercise showed is that a core of just 1,318 corporations effectively controlled the majority of economic activity on the planet. "The 1,318 appeared to collectively own through their shares the majority of the world's blue chip and manufacturing firms - the 'real' economy - representing 60% of global revenues."
But the researchers revealed another fact: "A 'super-entity' of 147 even more tightly knit companies - that controlled 40% of the total wealth in the network."
In other words just 1% of the giant corporations effectively control the world economy! "Most were financial institutions. The top 20 included Barclays Bank, JP Morgan Chase & Co and The Goldman Sachs Group."
Key demands of the Socialist Party are:
- For a socialist government to take into public ownership the top 150 companies and banks that dominate the British economy, and run them under democratic working class control and management. Compensation to be paid only on the basis of proven need.
- A democratic socialist plan of production based on the interests of the overwhelming majority of people, and in a way that safeguards the environment.
Why not click here to join the Socialist Party, or click here to donate to the Socialist Party.
In The Socialist 26 October 2011:
Fighting back
Capitalism IS crisis - Fight for a socialist alternative
Prepare for N30 - strike and demonstrate!
Hardest Hit demos - thousands march
Events on 5 + 6 November
Join the Jarrow march for jobs & education - 5 November
Join the fightback - come to Socialism 2011
Socialist Party youth and students
Coventry rally - The Jarrow march is on its way!
Wales takes action to defend young people
Socialist Party workplace news
Tax dodging continues while staff face cuts
Construction protests continue and Unite declares strike ballot (report with video)
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Building the fightback and building solidarity at Occupy LSX
Electric support for London anti-cuts challenge
Socialist Party news and analysis
10,000 public sector jobs lost in Wales and counting
International socialist news and analysis
Where now for Libya after the downfall of Gaddafi's regime?
Euro crisis - urgent need to build a socialist alternative
Solidarity appeal: Stop Kazakh state brutality
Socialist Party feature
Free schools - Freedom to privatise education
Home | The Socialist 26 October 2011 | Join the Socialist Party
Join us today!
Printable version
email to friend
