Doug said:
>
>How do we know there's been a sharper concentration? Thirty years ago,
>there were three major players in the U.S. auto market; now there are what,
>5 or 10?
>
>I sat at a conference a few weeks ago and listened to someone denouncing
>the increased monopolization of world trade by 40,000 multinational
>corporations. 40,000? Even allowing for 100 industrial sectors, we're
>talking 400 per. Do a Herfindahl on that one!
>
>Another question - did the textbook world of perfect competition ever
>really exist? Or has something like oligpolistic competition been the only
>real historically existing kind?
>
>Doug
>
In an article, "The Limits of the Earth," by David Korten in "The
Nation" (July 15/22, 1996) domestic as well as international concentration
is heavy and increasing.He says, "five companies now control more than 50
percent of the global market in the following industries: consumer
durables, automotive, airlines, aerospace, electronic
components,electricity and electronics, and steel. Five corporations
control more than 40 percent of the global market in oil, personal
computers and--especially alarming in its consequences for public debate on
these very issues--media."
There are other interesting statistics cited by the article, which
questions the achievement of the Bretton Woods system that launched
"globalization" with dire consequences. The article says: "The Fortune 500
firms shed 4.4 million jobs between 1980 and 1993, but during this same
period, their sales increased 1.4 times, assets increased 2.3 times and CEO
compensation increased 6.1 times. . . . Those same corporations employ
1/20th of 1 percent of the world's population, but control 25 percent of
the world's output and 70 percent of world trade."
It seems to me we should not just look at how many (like 40,000)
MNCs there are, but control of the few. I have seen statistics somewhere
else where 1,000 MNCs control the bulk of the world,'s output, trade and
investment.So the remaining 39,000 contribute very little to total sales.
Fikret.
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