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Just a little comparison of larger things happening in the world (or, things getting larger) [1]

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Date: 2023-10-27  

Where’s the real power lie in the world? My fellow Kossacks probably already intuit this but it can be useful to put some numbers & data to support what you know to be true but too many people just don’t seem to get.

I have conservative friends with whom I can have civil discussions. As a rule, many conservatives are attached to the belief that “government is the problem.” I believe that they live in an antiquarian mindset that just doesn’t comprehend how different the world is today as compared to 150 years ago. Government is usually only the problem when it doesn’t represent the will of the citizens who live under that government. So, the question arises: Whose will is represented by governments, both in the USA & around the world?

I did some playing with numbers back in 2011 or thereabouts & I finally got around to updating my research. I ended up comparing to the data for 2019 since CoVid was such an economic disrupter & realistically, the original numbers were for 2011 when there was still a lot of economic stimulus taking place following the financial meltdown in 2008.

I would like to share the following spreadsheet with any who are interested. It suggests a power comparison between the world’s largest governments (by budget) & the world’s largest corporations (by revenue).

It is an awkward thing to compare but government budgets represent the power that a government has to exert in the world, in terms of where it chooses to spend that budget. Corporate revenues, similarly represents the power that a corporation (or, rather, its Board of Directors & operating officers) can exert in the world. Even allowing that a good portion of that revenue is going to be spent on operating expenses, it represents influence & power.

The government spending data comes from the CIA World Factbook, a very interesting compendium of data about the countries & territories of the world. I selected (to the best of my ability) the largest 100 countries by GDP. I also added some states in the USA (I Googled their budgets) The cut-off conveniently came at a GDP of US$100 Billion per year. The corporation data came from the Fortune magazine Global 500 list. I had to spend $1 for a trial membership but I’ve been meaning to do this for a while so I felt it was worth it. I listed the top 100 global corporations. The cut-off there came surprisingly close to the GDP cut-off but it is important to remember: GDP represents all financial activity, not the activity that a government can sponsor through spending.

It’s no surprise that WalMart is the largest corporation, but back in 2011, it was 15th largest organization in the world, between S. Korea & Mexico. In 2019, it has moved up to 11th, Just behind the UK. So the 10 largest organizations in the world are still governments but in the next 10, there are 6 corporations & only 4 countries. The top 50 organizations is split evenly at 25 countries & 25 corporations. When you look at the 100 largest organizations on the planet, only 36 of them are countries. The other 64 are corporations. So, when the representative from Exxon or BP show up in most any country in S. America or Africa (or let’s face it, pretty much anywhere), let’s not be under any illusions as to where the real power lies.

Government IS NOT the problem! People with an excess of power who are not beholden to anybody (except perhaps the stockholders) CAN be a very big problem!

note: my data doesn’t include some privately held companies like Vitol, Cargill, Aldi, Schwarz & Koch. Perhaps I’ll figure out their 2019 revenues & add them in later.

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