Information Technology and the Global Ruling Class

1 For an analysis of the formation of the transnational capitalist class, see Bill Robinson and Jerry Harris , ‘Towards a global ruling class: globalisation and the transnational capitalist class’, Science and Society (spring 2000).

2 Manuel Castells has written extensively on the ‘network society’ and impact of the information age, while Paul Romer has developed the ‘new growth theory’ that explores the importance of ideas to the development of an economy.

3 James Fallows , ‘Billion dollar babies’, New York Review (16 December 1999), p. 9-9.

4 ‘The Fortune global five hundred, the world’s largest corporations’, Fortune (2 August 1999).

5 In analysing the electronics industry, I have included in the table only those corporations with substantial investments in IT products. For example, Fortune lists both Whirlpool and Intel in the same category. Out of twenty-five on Fortune’s list, I chose the following sixteen: Siemens; Hitachi; Matsushita; Toshiba; Royal Philips; NEC; Lucent Technologies; Motorola; Intel; L.M. Ericsson; Samsung; Northern Telecom; Sanyo; Nokia; Sharp and Tyco International.

6 I included rubber because it listed only three corporations, Bridgestone, Michelin and Goodyear, all tightly linked to the transportation industry through tyre production.

7 ‘The Fortune 500’, Fortune (17 April 2000).

8 In listing the US electronics industry, I used the same method as above. Out of thirty-one corporations, I chose the following ten: Motorola; Solectron; Rockwell Intl; QualComm; Harris; Micron Technology; Molex; Conexant Systems; DII Group and Sanmina.

9 Lipper, Wall Street Journal Market Data Group . ‘Best and worst’, Wall Street Journal (8 May 2000).

10 Suzanne McGee , ‘Venture capitalists still love start-ups’, Wall Street Journal (4 May 2000), p. C1-C1.

11 Greg Ip and E. S. Browning , ‘NASDAQ swings are unprecedented but consumers are not spooked’, Wall Street Journal (17 April 2000), p. 3-3 [http://www.global.noc.org].

12 Lipper, ‘Best and worst’, op. cit.

13 Mark Heinzl , ‘Above the US’, Wall Street Journal (8 May 2000), p. R13-R13.

14 Deborah Ball and Vanessa Fuhrman , ‘Net gain’, Wall Street Journal (8 May 2000) p. R9-R9.

15 Warburg Dillon Read , Datastream , ‘What is value’, Wall Street Journal (8 May 2000), p. R9-R9.

16 Lipper, ‘Best and worst’, op. cit.

17 Bill Barnhart ‘Cross border marriages will ease investing’, Chicago Tribune (7 May 2000), section 5, p. 3-3.

18 Moringstar Inc. , ‘The tentacles of technology’, New York Times (2 April 2000) p. BU8-BU8.

19 Edmund L. Andrews , ‘The metamorphosis of Germany inc’, New York Times (12 March 2000), section 3, p. 1-1.

20 Anthony Bright , The Electric Lamp Industry (New York, Macmillan, 1949), p. 85-85.

21 Scott Thurman , ‘Cisco agrees to buy Arrow Point for about $6.1 billion in stock’, Wall Street Journal (8 May 2000), p. A4-A4.

22 Joshua Watson , ‘The lists’, Fortune (17 April 2000), p. 295-295.

23 Jeremy Kahn , ‘The Fortune global five hundred’, Fortune (2 August 1999), p. 144-144.

24 R. C. Longworth , ‘Suddenly our manuals are out of date’, Chicago Tribune (9 April 2000), Section 2, p. 1-1.

25 Suzanne Koudsi , ‘Ten deals we’d like to see’, Fortune (17 April 2000), p. 58-58.

26 Jeremy Kahn, ‘The Fortune global five hundred’, op. cit.

27 John Bellamy Foster , ‘Monopoly capital at the turn of the millennium’, Monthly Review (April 2000), p. 12-12.

28 Stephan Labaton , ‘ATT clears step in bid to purchase a cable TV giant’, New York Times (26 May 2000), p. 1-1.

29 Foster, ‘Monopoly capital’, op. cit.

30 Nikhal Deogin and Steve Lipin , ‘NTT agrees to buy 90 per cent of Verio’, Wall Street Journal (8 February 2000), p. A21-A21.

31 Paul Abrahams , ‘Softbank in $1bn European internet investment move’, Financial Times (3 March 2000), p. 15-15.

32 Uli Schmetzer , ‘Wireless ‘‘I-Mail’’ connects Japan’, Chicago Tribune (24 May 2000), section 3, p. 1-1.

33 Paul Abrahams, ‘Softbank’, op. cit.

34 Neel Chowdhury , ‘Gates and co attack Asia’, Fortune (17 April 2000), p. 197-197.

35 Andrew R. Sorkin , ‘For Vodafone, saving grace from French’, New York Times (29 May 2000), p. C1-C1.

36 David Leonhardt , ‘Order of compensation universe reflects pull of new economy’, New York Times (2 April 2000), section 3, p. 1-1.

37 Ibid.

38 Ibid.

39 ‘America’s 400 richest people’, Forbes (Special Issue 1999), p. 338-338.

40 Ibid.

41 Laura Holson , ‘Nothing left to buy?’, New York Times (3 March 2000), p. C1-C1.

42 Mark Landler , ‘Asia’s tycoons prepare to join rush to internet’, New York Times (29 May 2000), p. 1-1.

43 Craig Smith , ‘A dot-com revolution in China’, New York Times (15 July 2000), p. B1-B1.

44 Lizette Alvarez , ‘High-tech industry long shy of politics, is now belle of ball’, New York Times (26 December 1999), p. 1-1.

45 Ibid.

46 Ibid.

47 Ibid.

48 James Fallows , ‘Billion-dollar babies’, New York Review (16 December 1999), p. 9-9.

49 Feliciano Garcia , ‘The Lists’, Fortune (17April 2000), p. 294-294.

50 Ibid.

51 Patrick Barta , ‘The churning of the workforce’, Chicago Tribune (26 March 2000), section 6, p. 1-1.

52 Jerry Harris , ‘Globalisation and the technological revolution of capitalism’, Cy.Rev (no. 5, fall/winter 1997), p. 19-19.

53 Chris Meyer , ‘The 10 driving principles of the new economy, rule #1, what’s the matter’, Business 2.0 (March 2000), p. 193-193.

54 Parn Woodall , ‘The world economy’, Economist (28 September 1996).

55 Keith Bradsher , ‘Gentlemen merge your manufacturers’, New York Times (23 March 2000), p. C1-C1.

Michael Schuman , ‘Asian factories fire up foreign investors’, Wall Street Journal (8 March 2000).

56 Mark Landler, ‘Asia’s Tycoons’, op. cit.

57 Bill Barnhart , ‘Traders thrive on volatility, but some say enough’, Chicago Tribune (14 April 2000), section 3, p. 1-1.

58 Ibid.

59 Jerry Harris, ‘Globalisation’, op. cit.

60 Craig Karnin , ‘The global shareholder’, Wall Street Journal (9 May 2000), p. R4-R4.

61 Edmund Andrews , ‘Streamlining a German Blimp’, New York Times (29 February 2000), p. C1-C1.

62 Saskia Sassen , ‘Global financial centers’, Foreign Affairs (January/February 1999), p. 83-83.

63 Christan Weller , ‘Global banking’, Foreign Policy in Focus (Vol. 3, no. 9, May 1998), p. 1-1.

64 Michel Beaud , A History of Capitalism 1500–1980 (New York, Monthly Review Press, 1983), p. 86-86.

65 ‘High-fiber diet’, Wired (June 2000), p. 142-142.