When Corporations Rule the World by David C. Korten was originally published in 1995. The 2015 twentieth-anniversary edition includes an updated introduction and conclusion.
Korten contrasts the free market vision of Adam Smith, which he sees as focused on small businesses and entrepreneurship, with the reality of today's huge multinational corporations. Korten argues that the growth of large globalized corporations, rather than creating the free and competitive markets envisaged by Smith that lead to public benefits, have instead resulted in rent seeking and the concentration of wealth into the hands of a limited number of private individuals, often to the detriment of the public sector.
Korten sees the current corporate environment as focused on short-term profits fueled by ever-accelerating growth. He argues that this model is sustained by predatory finance, the exploitation of workers, and the destruction of the environment as enabled by globalization.
While free markets are often supported by libertarian ideology, Korten points out that global multinationals do not flourish by increasing freedom and democracy but rather subvert democracy by wielding political influence to their own advantage. He sees that a narrow focus on increasing corporate profitability has actually harmed the lives of most people while benefiting only a limited global elite. He argues that corporations succeed by externalizing many of their costs, leaving a hollowed out public sector responsible for the resources, such as transportation infrastructure, education, and medical care on which corporate profits are built.
The book concludes by advocating for a new economic model as opposed to the current model. This would be one that takes into account social and environmental costs and responsibilities.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Please, can I get a full break down of the book When Corporations Rule the World by David C. Korten?
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