I don't know if this is necessarily a breaking news event, but it is a new report just released from the economic and social justice advocacy group, Global Justice Now and I don't know where else it would fit. I struggle to find a place to post topical news stories that I wouldn't necessarily classify as a breaking news event, which to me always sounds like some kind of emergency like an earth quake or plane crash or some such. But anyway, this is interesting in that these figures show that individual multinational corporations are wealthier than many countries. For example Walmart is wealthier than Spain, Australia, and the Netherlands.
Link to full article here with an excerpt below.
http://www.commondreams.org/news/201...most-countries
Largest Corporations Wealthier Than Most Countries
Corporations are running the world, according to new figures released Monday from the U.K.-based Global Justice Now.
"As multinationals increasingly dominate areas traditionally considered the primary domain of the state, we should be afraid."
—Aisha Dodwell, Global Justice Now
The economic and social justice advocacy group discovered (spreadsheet) that the ten largest corporations are wealthier than most countries in the world combined.
"Today, of the 100 wealthiest economic entities in the world, 69 are now corporations and only 31 countries," wrote Global Justice Now campaigns and policy officer Aisha Dodwell. "This is up from 63 to 37 a year ago. At this rate, within a generation we will be living in a world entirely dominated by giant corporations."
Indeed, multinational behemoths Shell, Apple, and Walmart each rake in more revenue than the world's 180 "poorest" countries—a list that includes Ireland, Greece, Israel, South Africa, Vietnam, and Colombia—combined.
And the top ten largest companies have a whopping combined value of $2.9 trillion, which is larger than China's economy.
"The drive for short-term profits today seems to trump basic human rights for millions of people on the planet."
—Nick Dearden, Global Justice Now
Walmart, the biggest corporate entity in the world, is valued at over $482 billion, which makes it wealthier than Spain, Australia, and the Netherlands, individually.
"The vast wealth and power of corporations is at the heart of so many of the world's problems—like inequality and climate change," said Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now. "The drive for short-term profits today seems to trump basic human rights for millions of people on the planet. These figures show the problem is getting worse."
"As multinationals increasingly dominate areas traditionally considered the primary domain of the state, we should be afraid," Dodwell continued:
While they privatize everything from education and health to border controls and prisons, they stash their profits away in secret offshore accounts. And while they have unrivaled access to decision makers they avoid democratic processes by setting up secret courts enabling them to bypass all judicial systems applicable to people. Meanwhile their raison d'etre of perpetual growth in a finite world is causing environmental destruction and driving climate change. From Sports Direct's slave-like working conditions to BP's oil spill devastating people’s homes, stories of corporations violating rights are all too often seen in our daily papers.