25 January 2011

Tipping Point: The Corporation Eclipses the Nation-State

In this era of globalization, quality of life is increasingly a function of corporate, not government, policy.

52 of the 100 largest organizations in the world are corporations. Over half. [fn1]

This is even more remarkable given that corporations did not exist 150 years ago. [fn 2]

Just one of the many things suggested by this is that if the media wants to remain relevant, they may want to consider playing reporters within and for these corporations in the same way that they've learned to do within and for governments. It is within the corporation that our futures are being defined. It is time for communities to act like it.

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[fn 1] Jointly ranking companies by sales and countries by government spending.
[fn 2] More precisely, the modern, joint-stock, limited liability corporation did not exist. Lest you think that a legal technicality, in 1800 there was not a single organization that employed 500 or more employees, whereas today about half of all workers are employed by such organizations.

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