When Corporations Rule the World

When Corporations Rule the World, David C. Korten, Kumarian Press and Barrett-Koehler Publishers, 1995

"Economic growth" is one of those indisputable concepts with which everyone is supposed to agree. Seeming to be ranked with God, motherhood and apple pie, economic growth is supposed to provide more, and better paying, jobs for everyone and greater prosperity from one end of society to the other.

 But, David Korten, armed with an MBA and PhD from Stanford Business School, and thirty years of overseas experience actually seeing the effects of economic growth, says Not So Fast.
 
He says that mankind, Americans included, have been using earth's finite resources as if they were infinite. He talks about transnational corporations that may be headquartered in a certain country, but owe their allegiance to whoever has the lowest tax rate. Also mentioned are corporate CEOs who lay off thousands of employees, then are treated as heroes by their boards of directors and Wall Street for their bold leadership.

Korten also has a wonderful metaphor or analogy for life in contemporary America. The first Star Trek series had an episode called "The Cloud Minders". It took place on a planet where the elite lived in a city on a cloud called Stratos where they had the best of everything. The dirty, dangerous ore mining that made Stratos possible took place on the planet surface. The surface dwellers had no opportunity to experience life on Stratos, and the residents of Stratos had no desire to experience life on the surface.

This is a thoroughly researched, easy to read book that easily reaches the level of required reading for everyone. Highly recommended.