32/YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE!Table 2.1 Company acquisition and creation by foreign capital in the
US
1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991Acquisition
by value (S billions) 5 12 20 31 34 65 60 55 17
bynumber 229 315 390 555 543 869 837 839 501
Creation
by value (S billions) 3 3 3 8 6 8 9 n/a n/a
bynumber 476 449 363 485 435 555 456 n/a n/a
Source: Survey of Current Business, May 1992. From Francois Chesnais,
1994, p. 70.Banking, retail sales, tourism and mass media are further examples
of corporate concentration in the framework of globalisation.
In 1995, five advanced capitalist countries (US, Japan, France,
Germany and the UK) controlled 168 of the 200 biggest multina
tional corporations (Clairmont, 199 7). These 168 account for 85.9
per cent of the overall turnover of the 200 biggest corporations.
The Third World is virtually absent from such rankings. Only
China, Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico make a modest appearance,
with one multinational each. These four multinationals account for
only 1 per cent of the overall turnover of the 200 biggest corpora
tions. South Korea has indeed entered the select club of the major
industrial powers. However, its six multinationals account for only
2.3 per cent of the 200 biggest corporations' total turnover. It will be
interesting to see what happens to South Korea's multinationals
following the crisis that began in 1997. The main multinationals of
the industrialised countries are in favour of dismantling a number of
South Korean industrial houses organised into chaebols. It is
therefore not excluded that a number of South Korean multination
als will be cut back and lose their place in the Top 200 hit parade.
THE'GLOBAL VILLAGE'
The term 'globalisation' is sometimes linked to the idea of a 'global
village'. This gives globalisation a very user-friendly image.
Accelerated concentration in the mass media sector has given a
boost to this image makeover. Images we see on the television news
are in fact rebroadcast by television networks the world over. A huge