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Yeah, this is one of those infographics that have been circulating for quite a while. More interesting and in-depth are these stories where you learn about the

Yeah, this is one of those infographics that have been circulating for quite a while. More interesting and in-depth are these stories where you learn about the interconnectedness of large corporations: > "Three systems theorists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich have taken a database listing 37 million companies and investors worldwide and analyzed all 43,060 transnational corporations and share ownerships linking them. They built a model of who owns what and what their revenues are and mapped the whole edifice of economic power." The 147 Companies That Control Everything http://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceupbin/2011/10/22/the-147-companies-that-control-everything/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceupbin/2011/10/22/the-147-co... Original source, but site is currently down: " Revealed – the capitalist network that runs the world" http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228354.500-revealed--the-capitalist-network-that-runs-the-world.html http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228354.500-revealed-... Full research paper here (36 pages) http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/1107/1107.5728v2.pdf http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/1107/1107.5728v2.pdf

twoodfin 13y ago
This is the study that says Vanguard is one of the most powerful companies in the world for running a bunch of people's 401(k)'s in index funds, right?
- brymaster 13y ago
  No, that's not what the study says.
  - twoodfin 13y ago
    Well, they're #8 on the list. What point was trying to be made? The retort is much more relevant: Most of the companies on the top 50 list are simply investment companies – they aren’t operating companies. (The only obvious example is #50 China Petrochemical.) The enormous size of these companies is simply a reflection of the way most people invest in the public markets, through mutual funds, money funds and other vehicles. Disturbing? Nah. Simply a reflection of the way most people invest in the markets. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2011/10/24/retort-the-147-companies-that-run-the-world-theyre-you/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2011/10/24/retort-the...
    - brymaster 13y ago
      I think the point was the interconnectedness and how these firms have large stakes in other large corporations. They don't have to be "operating companies" to be controlling. Real economic power as the article states.

twoodfin 13y ago

This is the study that says Vanguard is one of the most powerful companies in the world for running a bunch of people's 401(k)'s in index funds, right?

brymaster 13y ago
No, that's not what the study says.
- twoodfin 13y ago
  Well, they're #8 on the list. What point was trying to be made? The retort is much more relevant: Most of the companies on the top 50 list are simply investment companies – they aren’t operating companies. (The only obvious example is #50 China Petrochemical.) The enormous size of these companies is simply a reflection of the way most people invest in the public markets, through mutual funds, money funds and other vehicles. Disturbing? Nah. Simply a reflection of the way most people invest in the markets. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2011/10/24/retort-the-147-companies-that-run-the-world-theyre-you/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2011/10/24/retort-the...
  - brymaster 13y ago
    I think the point was the interconnectedness and how these firms have large stakes in other large corporations. They don't have to be "operating companies" to be controlling. Real economic power as the article states.