When corporations rule the world

A handful of corporations and financial institutions command an ever-greater concentration of economic and political power in an assault against markets, democracy, and life. It's a "suicide economy," says former Harvard Business School professor David Korten, that destroys the very foundations of its own existence. The original 1995 edition of When Corporations Rule the World helped launch a global resistance against corporate domination. In this 20th anniversary edition, Korten shares insights from his personal experience as a participant in the growing movement for a New Economy. A new introduction documents the further concentration of wealth and corporate power since 1995 and explores why our institutions resolutely resist even modest reform. A new conclusion chapter outlines high-leverage opportunities for breakthrough change.--From publisher description.

"20th anniversary edition."

Prologue : a personal journey -- Introduction : capitalism and the suicide economy -- Cowboys in a spaceship. From hope to crisis ; End of the open frontier ; The growth illusion -- Contest for sovereignty. Rise of corporate power in America ; Assault of the corporate libertarians ; The decline of democratic pluralism ; Illusions of the cloud minders -- Corporate colonialism. Dreaming of global empires ; Building elite consensus ; Buying out democracy ; Marketing the world ; Adjusting the poor ; Guaranteeing corporate rights -- A rogue financial system. The money game ; Predatory finance ; Corporate cannibalism ; Managed competition -- No place for people. Race to the bottom ; The end of inefficiency ; People with no place -- To reclaim our power. The ecological revolution ; Economies are for living ; An awakened civil society ; Agenda for democracy -- Conclusion : a living economy for living earth -- Epilogue : our need for meaning.