State of Power 2012 Exposing the Davos Class

Publication date:

Who are the global 1%? What companies do they run? How do they escape accountability? Check out TNI's powerful infographic displays that expose the social and environmental costs of global corporate power.

About state of power 2012

Publication type
Report
Part of series
State of Power
ISBN/ISSN
2405-7592

The economic, social and ecological crises humanity face are no accident, but a result of policies pursued by a small  corporate elite - best known as the Davos class - that has systematically hijacked political and economic policy throughout the world.

TNI, as part of its new Corporate Power project, is producing a series of infographics over 2012 that expose the reality of corporate power, and our need to fundamentally change direction. Please download and share these infographics, and watch out for new ones over the coming months.

 

Introduction to the Davos Class
Susan George

The Davos class run our major institutions and know exactly what they want, but they face a huge crisis of legitimacy because their ideology isn't working and they have virtually no ideas nor imagination to resolve this.

Planet Earth: A Corporate Run World

Which are the biggest companies in the world? Which corporations control them? How does their power compare with states?
> Interactive presentation Large image  |  Download PDF

 

The Global 0.001%

Just 10.9 million people, or 0.15%, control $42.7 trillion dollars or two thirds of world GDP. An even tinier group of people, 0.001%, control a third of that amount. Where are they based? What could this money pay for?
> Interactive presentation | View as image  |  Download PDF

 

The World's Richest Men

Who are they and how did they make their money? Which are the best countries to be rich in? (Version revised: 25 Jan 2012)
> Interactive presentation | View as image  |  Download PDF

Neoliberal architects

A global economy that has benefited a small elite is no accident: it was carefully designed by politicians who often worked for transnational corporations and at times were rewarded by them after leaving office.

> View as image  |  Download PDF

Sources

Planet Earth: A Corporate World

Top 25 companies based on revenues: Forbes, April 2011

Top 25 companies based on ownership and control: Vitali, Glattfelder, and Battiston, The Network of Global Corporate Control, 2011

Corporations more powerful than nations: Nations' GDP from IMF website; company revenue from Fortune 500

Location of Top 200 corporations and number of Top 500 corporations per country: Fortune 500

The global 0.001%

Extreme wealth and Geography of the Rich: Capgemini and Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management, World Wealth Report 2011

An unequal world: Isabel Ortiz  and Matthew Cummins, Global inequality: Beyond the Bottom Billion , UNICEF April 2011  f
 
What would $42.7 billion pay for?


World's top billionaires and sectors the wealth came from: Forbes.com, March 2011

Case study of Carlos Slim: Outing the oligarchy - billionaires who benefit from today’s climate crisis, International Forum on Globalization (IFG) 

Tax rates in different OECD countries: Center of Budget and Policy Priorities http://www.cbpp.org/

Tax evasion costs:  Tax Justice Network, Cost of Tax Abuse, November 2011

Neoliberal architects

Alan Greenspan:

  • Testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, October 23, 2008.
  • Reuters, September 22, 2008; Marketwatch, September 26, 2008.

Anatoly Chubais

 

Marcilio Marques Moreira

Carlos Salinas

Charlie McCreevy

Dick Cheney

 

Frits Bolkestein

Lawrence Summers

  • Financial Industry Paid Millions to Obama Aide, New York Times, April 3, 2009.
  • Bloomberg News, March 3 and December 18, 2009.


Peter Mandelson

  • The Moscow Times, Oct 22, 2008
  • The Times, Oct 13, 2008
  • The Guardian, Oct 21, 2008
  • The Telegraph, Oct 24, 2008, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/georgeosborne/3253562/Lord-Mandelson-under-pressure-to-reveal-details-of-meetings-with-Oleg-Deripaska.html

Tony Blair

Research: George Draffan
Design: Ricardo Santos