The capitalist network that runs the world
<http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228354.500-revealed--the-capitalist-network-that-runs-the-world.html>
The work, to be published in PloS One, revealed a core of 1318
companies with interlocking ownerships (see image). Each of the 1318
had ties to two or more other companies, and on average they were
connected to 20. What's more, although they represented 20 per cent of
global operating revenues, the 1318 appeared to collectively own
through their shares the majority of the world's large blue chip and
manufacturing firms - the "real" economy - representing a further 60
per cent of global revenues. When the team further untangled the web
of ownership, it found much of it tracked back to a "super-entity" of
147 even more tightly knit companies - all of their ownership was held
by other members of the super-entity - that controlled 40 per cent of
the total wealth in the network. "In effect, less than 1 per cent of
the companies were able to control 40 per cent of the entire network,"
says Glattfelder. Most were financial institutions. The top 20
included Barclays Bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co, and The Goldman Sachs
Group.
A cultural thought experiment
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2011/10/a-cultural-experiment.html
Examine the world around us from the point of view of someone with a
net income of $5M/year ...Food is essentially free; you can afford to
spend $1000 per meal, three meals a day, in the most expensive
restaurants in London or Tokyo or Manhattan, and not make a dent in
your income. (Oddly, even the hyper-rich don't typically spend $1000
on lunch every day: a more realistic expectation might be to dine out
expensively twice a week, for $100K/year, and have the best of
everything in-house the rest of the time, with a live-in chef, for
another $100K/year.) Clothing is essentially free; want a different
$5000 suit for every day of the week? That's going to set you back
only $35K! Spouse wants a dozen designer evening gowns a year? That's
still going to be on the low side of $200K. Housing is essentially
free; $1000/day will rent you a penthouse suite in a five star hotel
in Manhattan, while your mortgageable income will let you buy a palace
in the $5-20M range. (There are places where you may need to spend
more than $20M to buy a house; but not many of them.) You don't have
to do housework, interior decorating, cooking, driving, DIY home
improvements, flight booking, or shopping (unless you want to). People
can be hired to do any of the above for rates ranging from $15K to
$100K per year, depending on the complexity of the job. And you earn
$100K per week.
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