![]() The Swiss scientists warn this can lead to instability. Such interconnecting structures may be common in biology with things like fungus, lichen, and weeds, but economists say the danger comes when you combine hyperconnection with the concentration of power. New Scientist magazine talked to one systems theorist “disconcerted” at the level of interconnectedness, but not surprised, according to Bruce Upbin, writing in Forbes. This, the first mapping of the structure of global corporate control, includes not just Walton Enterprises-the Walton family’s holding company for Walmart, Sam’s Club and allied firms – but also Deutsche Bank (one of Trump’s main lenders), the Goldman Sachs Group, which has ties to several Trump Cabinet nominees, and Bank of America. And a total of 737 transnational firms control 80 percent of the wealth. The scholars discovered that 147 firms, through interlocking stakes in one another, control 40 percent of the wealth in the whole system. Five years ago, Stefania Vitali, James Glattfelder and Stefano Battiston wrote The Network of Global Corporate Control after examining 37 million companies and investors worldwide and analyzing all 43,060 transnational corporations and the share/ownerships linking them. Three scholars from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich point out that the trend of growing rule by oligarchs and plutocrats isn’t confined to America. Today’s plutocrats include the Walton family, the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson, who are seven of the 11 wealthiest Americans: Charles Koch (worth $36 billion), David Koch (worth $36 billion), Christy Walton ($35.4 billion) and Jim Walton ($33.8 billion), Alice Walton ($33.5 billion), Samuel Robson Walton ($33.3 billion) and Adelson ($28.5 billion).Īll those plutocrats also have extreme anti-worker histories. Senator Bernie Sanders, D.-Vt., has said “oligarchs” are “a small number of very wealthy families who spend huge amounts of money supporting right-wing candidates who protect their interests.” Sanders differentiates this “small number” from the larger world of the rich and superrich – the plutocrats, who have long exercised considerable influence on U.S. The term “plutocracy comes from two words: ploutos meaning “wealth” and kratos for “govern.” The terms are related to hierarchy and monarchy. Deriving from two Greek words – oligos meaning “few” and arch for “rule.” ![]() Oligarchy is defined as “government by the few” and came into use in the 16 th century. ![]() The consolidating connections between government and business bear more than a passing resemblance to the style of governance called “corporatism” in the 1930s, which sought to legitimize oligarchy and plutocracy. There’s been little coverage of the big picture: the dangerous trend of growing interlocking ties between business and government. Press coverage has been focusing almost exclusively on the billionaires Donald Trump has appointed to his cabinet, their potential conflicts of interest and their qualifications. The mainstream media is missing the forest for the trees. ![]() The Koch brothers, net worth $82 billion. ![]()
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