Revealed - the capitalistic network that runs the world

I think it would be a safe assumption to state that most of us here on ATS believe that the global banking network's activities are directly responsible for the majority of the financial woes that have befallen the global community, especially since the 2008 events that have put the financial system into meltdown mode.

So it came as no surprise to me to have this belief essentially confirmed in a research article I was just reading in New Scientist titled "Revealed - the capitalistic network that runs the world". This article is an update to a similar one that I read a year or so ago that I'm sure could be readily found with a quick Google search for those that may be interested in reading it.
I'll try and summarize what the researchers discovered.
Source: New Scientist


More and more people are finally waking up to the conclusion that a few bankers control a large chunk of the global economy but so far it's been extremely difficult to demonstrate that this belief actually has a solid basis in fact. This however has now changed due to a study, by a trio of complex systems theorists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, who have become 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).

This Swiss research was based on an analysis of the relationships between 43,000 transnational corporations and has identified a relatively small group of companies, mainly banks, with disproportionate power over the global economy.

At this point, let me repeat the above but in bold ... just so it sinks in !

... identified a relatively small group of companies, mainly banks, with disproportionate power over the global economy

To arrive at this The Zurich team used data obtained from Orbis 2007, a database listing 37 million companies and investors worldwide. They extracted out all 43,060 TNCs and the share ownerships linking them. Then they constructed a model of which companies controlled others through shareholding networks, coupled with each company's operating revenues, to map the structure of economic power.

The end result of the analysis revealed a core of 1318 companies with interlocking ownerships.


The 1318 transnational corporations that form the core of the economy. Superconnected companies are red, very connected companies are yellow. The size of the dot represents revenue


Each of the 1318 had ties to two or more other companies, and on average they were connected to 20. What's more, although they represented 20 per cent of global operating revenues, the 1318 appeared to collectively own through their shares the majority of the world's large blue chip and manufacturing firms - the "real" economy - representing a further 60 per cent of global revenues.

When the team further untangled the web of ownership, it found much of it tracked back to a "super-entity" of 147 even more tightly knit companies - all of their ownership was held by other members of the super-entity - that controlled 40 per cent of the total wealth in the network.

"In effect, less than 1 per cent of the companies were able to control 40 per cent of the entire network," says Glattfelder

and

Most were financial institutions. The top 20 included Barclays Bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co, and The Goldman Sachs Group.

The Zurich team raised the question as to whether this "super-entity" can exert concerted political power. Driffill feels 147 is too many to sustain collusion. Braha suspects they will compete in the market but act together on common interests. Resisting changes to the network structure may be one such common interest.


Here's a summary of their findings showing the top 50 of the 147 superconnected companies. Note how the banking system literally "owns" the top 20 positions making them the global "mover and shakers".

Also, recall the LIBOR rate fixing scandal that erupted a couple of weeks ago ? Which banking organization apparently had the lead role ? No other than the #1 position in the list and consequently the one with the greatest ability to manipulate the global financial economy via rate fixing ... Barclays !

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

This is old news, and has made the rounds here on ATS.
This is one of those things i don't mind seeing scrolling through ATS as much as it wants, it proves (by science) that this phenomena exists, and the scientists covered their ass by making it sound like 'chaos theory did it', but we all know (at least, those of us who have looked into it) that this is fact, this is happening, and the main ones are banks.

Central banks are not on the list though, and i feel as if they are a bigger problem than the private banks themselves. Which makes sense because they all own eachother.