Corporate Power, Oligopolies, and the Crisis of the State , livre ebook

State University of New York Press - Luis Suarez-Villa

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221 pages

English

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The largest, wealthiest corporations have gained unprecedented power and influence in contemporary life. From cradle to grave the decisions made by these entities have an enormous impact on how we live and work, what we eat, our physical and psychological health, what we know or believe, whom we elect, and how we deal with one another and with the natural world around us. At the same time, government seems ever more subservient to the power of these oligopolies, providing numerous forms of corporate welfare—tax breaks, subsidies, guarantees, and bailouts—while neglecting the most basic needs of the population. In Corporate Power, Oligopolies, and the Crisis of the State, Luis Suarez-Villa employs a multidisciplinary perspective to provide unprecedented documentation of a growing crisis of governance, marked by a massive transfer of risk from the private sector to the state, skyrocketing debt, great inequality and economic insecurity, along with an alignment of the interests of politicians and a new, minuscule but immensely wealthy and influential corporate elite. Thanks to this dysfunctional environment, Suarez-Villa argues, stagnation and a vanishing public trust have become the hallmarks of our time.
Introduction

Oligopolies

Financialism

Fundamental Split

Stagnation

Neo-Oligarchy

Governance Derailed

Index

Sujets

Political economy

Central

National

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Publié par	State University of New York Press
Date de parution	09 décembre 2014
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781438454870
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,1698€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Corporate Power, Oligopolies, and the Crisis of the State
Corporate Power, Oligopolies, and the Crisis of the State
LUIS SUAREZ-VILLA
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2015 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production, Ryan Morris
Marketing, Michael Campochiaro
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Suarez-Villa, Luis.
Corporate power, oligopolies, and the crisis of the state / Luis Suarez-Villa.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-5485-6 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4384-5487-0 (ebook)
1. Corporate governance. 2. Oligopolies. 3. State, The. I. Title. HD2741.S843 2015 306.3—dc23 2014008966
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Introduction
Oligopolies
Financialism
Fundamental Split
Stagnation
Neo-Oligarchy
Governance Derailed
Index
Introduction
F ive hundred years from now, our society may likely be seen as one where corporate behemoths became the most powerful entities. Politically, economically, culturally, and in almost every aspect of daily life, large corporations have gained immense influence over us. Before the cradle and even after the grave, and for almost everything in between, we depend on corporations as never before. How we are governed, what we consume, how we care for our health, our nutrition, what we know or believe, how we manage our finances, how we communicate or transport ourselves, and how we deal with each other and with nature, are now subject to the priorities and interests of large corporations.
At the same time, the state seems more incapable of providing fair governance and justice, securing the public’s well-being, and managing its fiscal resources. The welfare of future generations seems seriously compromised, for the short-term benefit of a very small but also very powerful segment of society. Massive bailouts for the most powerful corporations, along with tax breaks and loopholes, guarantees, subsidies, giveaways, and numerous forms of corporate welfare, drain the state’s coffers while some of the most fundamental needs of the population are ignored. At the same time, the vast accumulation of debt incurred by the state to pay for corporate well-being seems unsustainable, and is likely setting the stage for major future crises. Credit downgrades promise greater fiscal stress over the long term, and will likely require substantial cuts in services and benefits for the vast majority of the population. Meanwhile, a lack of public trust in the state has become a hallmark of our time, as inequalities and social injustice deepen while corporate wealth sets historical records.
Critical discourse on this difficult reality remains muted. Voices of dissent are few, and all too often fail to take into account the larger panorama of social distress. The real causes of distress also seem impossible, or at least very difficult, to grasp by the vast majority of the public. Many people’s identification with the interests of corporations seems unwavering, even when it damages their own individual or family well-being. Censorship—self-imposed or tacitly induced by circumstance and vested interests—has become part of our reality, as incisive critiques garner indifference or a deaf reception, even by those most negatively affected by the status quo. The educational system seems incapable of addressing the long-term problems facing us, as conformity or expediency trump critical depth and action. Academia and academics, meanwhile, have joined the status quo, with apologies—if not support—becoming the accepted attitude among those who set agendas.
American business schools and economics departments have become inspirational beacons for expanding corporate control, while critical perspectives on corporate power are tacitly censored. Critical views on corporate capitalism today seem as far removed from business and economics curricula as bald eagles are from deep ocean life. Tacit discrimination against those who raise critical or radical arguments on corporate power is all too customary, as higher education becomes another target for corporate control. Such discrimination has now penetrated most fields in the social sciences, turning them into apologists for the status quo—aided by reductionist approaches that prevent consideration of the larger social panorama. Perhaps this can explain why academic publishing on corporations seems almost exclusively targeted at making corporate power stronger, more efficient, or more exploitive. The vast number of how-to books published every year with these objectives—and publishers’ unwillingness to fit critical work on corporate capitalism in their programs—is testimony of how much academia has become subservient to the corporate domain.
The media, for their part, now largely owned—or controlled—by corporate power have increasingly turned away from critical perspectives, becoming cheerleaders of corporate hegemony—and of almost any action that leads to greater corporate “competitiveness,” no matter the cost. Voices critical of corporate power are all too frequently branded as enemies of “freedom” and of “free” markets, when in fact what is at stake is not freedom but rather the expanding social, political, and economic control by a privileged few over the rest of society—along with deepening social injustice, greater inequality, and the destruction of fair governance. Trivia and disguised pro-corporate propaganda rule the established channels of news and information, while the most egregious social injustices of our time go unnoticed. Reporting on corporate crimes and abuses, in particular, revolves around technicalities and minutia and seldom takes into account the broader panorama of corporate hegemony over society—or the corruption of the political system that it entails.
Politicians have largely become servants of corporate power—most of all, the oligopolies—while politics has turned into a game targeting money. Almost any political candidate can be made to seem appropriate, if large amounts of corporate money are available to fuel propaganda spins and image engineering. Politicians exclude the public from democratic decision making, as they conduct their dealings behind closed doors—all too often on the basis of their own personal interest and that of their corporate patrons. The lack of any national political referenda on the most important issues of our time—such as corporate power and corruption, bailouts, inequality, taxes, wars—attests to the lack of democratic consultation in our governance. Politicians thus disrespect us and our rights, and then tax us to pay for the abuses and crimes of corporate power. Think tanks funded by vast amounts of corporate money “orient” politicians on the “right” policies to pursue—which are typically those favored by corporate interests—their views enjoying wide diffusion in the corporate-owned media that now control almost every bit of information we receive, directly or indirectly.
How successful the tacit censorship of critical perspectives has been can be seen in the dearth of awareness among the public. Showered with corporate propaganda and advertising, exhorted to consume more and incur greater debt, mined for personal data, and prompted to elect politicians who either perpetuate the status quo or expand corporate power, the public seems to have lost sight of its own interest. Many therefore identify themselves with corporate power, especially the oligopolies, even when doing so counters their own welfare. Many vote for politicians with agendas that harm their interest as a class, or individually as members of society. Among those who object to our current reality there seems to be a general lack of understanding of the larger social panorama, and of the overwhelming influence of corporate power in it—most of all, the oligopolies. Apathy or resignation—or despair—seem to pervade the attitudes of many among the young, with abuse (of self or others) becoming a frequent outlet. Antisocial attitudes, existential emptiness and fragility, and destructive behavior seem to characterize the lives of much of the population. These features, coupled with the individual treadmill of economic insecurity, underemployment, stagnant wages, debt, and downward mobility, seem to make everyone too busy to understand the larger panorama of distress.
Meanwhile, Wall Street finance has turned almost every aspect of life and nature with a probabilistic dimension into a betting proposition. A casino culture has emerged, with paper profits taking a primordial place in the minds and motivation of many—a social phenomenon that reflects how deeply finance has been severed from production. A few financial oligopolies now control the vast majority of transactions—directly or indirectly—generating immense wealth, power, and political influence for the very small elite associated with them. So large and important have the financial oligopolies become that they pose a “systemic risk” to the entire A