Three complex systems theorists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich have applied scientific principles to untangle and identify a small number of companies who control the world economy.
The study was published by Andy Coghlan and Debora MacKenzie in an October 19th article for NewScience under the title:
Revealed – the capitalist network that runs the world
http://www.newscientist.com/...
AS PROTESTS against financial power sweep the world this week, science may have confirmed the protesters' worst fears. An analysis of the relationships between 43,000 transnational corporations has identified a relatively small group of companies, mainly banks, with disproportionate power over the global economy.
The study's assumptions have attracted some criticism, but complex systems analysts contacted by New Scientist say it is a unique effort to untangle control in the global economy. Pushing the analysis further, they say, could help to identify ways of making global capitalism more stable.
The idea that a few bankers control a large chunk of the global economy might not seem like news to New York's Occupy Wall Street movement and protesters elsewhere (see photo). But the study, by a trio of complex systems theorists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, is the first to go beyond ideology to empirically identify such a network of power. It combines the mathematics long used to model natural systems with comprehensive corporate data to map ownership among the world's transnational corporations (TNCs).
Though the study refutes the claim that the companies are engaged in a conspiracy to rule the world, it reveals an incestuous relationship that is scary because of the vulnerability it creates to world markets. More importantly, the scientists believe the study will help to identify ways to make the world economy more stable.
Here is a list of the top 50 superconnected companies:
1. Barclays plc
2. Capital Group Companies Inc
3. FMR Corporation
4. AXA
5. State Street Corporation
6. JP Morgan Chase & Co
7. Legal & General Group plc
8. Vanguard Group Inc
9. UBS AG
10. Merrill Lynch & Co Inc
11. Wellington Management Co LLP
12. Deutsche Bank AG
13. Franklin Resources Inc
14. Credit Suisse Group
15. Walton Enterprises LLC
16. Bank of New York Mellon Corp
17. Natixis
18. Goldman Sachs Group Inc
19. T Rowe Price Group Inc
20. Legg Mason Inc
21. Morgan Stanley
22. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc
23. Northern Trust Corporation
24. Société Générale
25. Bank of America Corporation
26. Lloyds TSB Group plc
27. Invesco plc
28. Allianz SE 29. TIAA
30. Old Mutual Public Limited Company
31. Aviva plc
32. Schroders plc
33. Dodge & Cox
34. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc*
35. Sun Life Financial Inc
36. Standard Life plc
37. CNCE
38. Nomura Holdings Inc
39. The Depository Trust Company
40. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance
41. ING Groep NV
42. Brandes Investment Partners LP
43. Unicredito Italiano SPA
44. Deposit Insurance Corporation of Japan
45. Vereniging Aegon
46. BNP Paribas
47. Affiliated Managers Group Inc
48. Resona Holdings Inc
49. Capital Group International Inc
50. China Petrochemical Group Company
* Lehman still existed in the 2007 dataset used
The article is an interesting read and hopefully, the economists on this site can illuminate the significance of the report. Once again, here is a link to the article:
http://www.newscientist.com/...
1:30 AM PT: I just read this article on Raw Story. It shows how internationally interconnected global finances are at the moment.
BRUSSELS — Eurozone leaders are toying with the idea of asking China and other emerging powers to help them out of the debt crisis by taking part in a bailout fund, but some are reluctant to call in Beijing.
The possibility of asking for China, Brazil and others to come to their rescue emerged at a summit on Sunday as European leaders scrambled to find ways to boost their defenses against the crisis.
The so-called BRICS group – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – has voiced willingness to help Europe overcome its debt crisis amid concerns it could spark a new global recession.
http://www.rawstory.com/...