{"id":38673,"date":"2013-05-30T23:03:54","date_gmt":"2013-05-31T03:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/forex-news\/?p=38673"},"modified":"2013-05-30T23:03:54","modified_gmt":"2013-05-31T03:03:54","slug":"multinationals-vs-the-nation-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/2013\/05\/30\/multinationals-vs-the-nation-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Multinationals vs. the Nation State"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By <a href=\"http:\/\/www.MoneyMorning.com.au\" target=\"_blank\"><u>MoneyMorning.com.au<\/u><\/a> <\/p>\n<p>We might be in the early stage of a World Government  Revolution. <\/p>\n<p>  I&rsquo;ve had enough of the carry-on that comes from world  &lsquo;leaders&rsquo;. It&rsquo;s frustrating that the money we pay in taxes finds its way into  giant government pits of emptiness. I ain&rsquo;t getting value for money.<\/p>\n<p>  Maybe there&rsquo;s a better way to run the world? Imagine a world  where leadership is egalitarian. A world with decentralised boundaries and  borders. Probably the best way to describe it would be The Great Global  Liberation. Essentially a world where there&rsquo;s no &lsquo;government&rsquo; per se. <\/p>\n<p>  I may be the ultimate optimist, but imagine&hellip;a world free from  central control and economic mismanagement? Throw the concept of a <strong>nation state<\/strong>  away; it won&rsquo;t be the way the world works in the future. <strong>Multinationals<\/strong> are  poised to wrestle control away from government.\n<\/p>\n<h2>It&#8217;s a New World Order<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>I&rsquo;m going to step you through how the  world will decentralise and nation states will fall to multinationals. There  will be no power in armed forces, but power and real freedom through technology. <\/p>\n<p>  Government will lose monetary power and the flow on effect is  they will lose governing power. The current course of huge debt and &lsquo;worry  about it later when the economy is flying&rsquo; won&rsquo;t last. It hasn&rsquo;t worked, and is  unlikely to in the future.<\/p>\n<p>  I&rsquo;ll show you in today&rsquo;s essay that a number of technology  companies are larger than most countries. And over the next 5 weeks I&rsquo;ll also  show you;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Why  a multinational would run a country better, <\/li>\n<li>How  government will and already has lost their grip on power because of technology, <\/li>\n<li>What  the future will look like, and<\/li>\n<li>What  you can do about it to seize the opportunities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Who&rsquo;d Win? Gillard, Abbott&hellip;or Ballmer, Brin, Bezos, Page, Ellison, Cook?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>  I did something I thought I&rsquo;d never do. Numerous hours of  research and armed with my trusty iPad, I went to JB-HiFi. And got them to  price-match me an Apple MacBook Pro. They did, and it was mine. <br \/>\n  At that point I thought I&rsquo;d converted to the Dark Side&#8230;well  at least the fruity side of the PC vs. Mac debate. <\/p>\n<p>  Little did I realise that the world of Apple had already  flooded into my life long ago. It started with a Macintosh Classic in late  1990&rsquo;s, then an iPod in 2004, an iPhone in late 2007, an iPad and Apple TV in  2012 and now a MacBook Pro in 2013. <\/p>\n<p>  I was an &lsquo;Applophile&rsquo; and didn&rsquo;t even know it. Opening the  box to my MacBook I realised these products were a part of my existence. They  didn&rsquo;t make me who I am, but they did have a strong impact on how I operate in  the world. <\/p>\n<p>  But it wasn&rsquo;t just my Apple stuff. It was the laptop I&rsquo;d had  since about 2006. The Windows OS I&rsquo;d run since I was 5. The Google Android  Phone I&rsquo;d had for the last 2 years. The kitchenware I&rsquo;d bought from Amazon and  the endless number of devices I&rsquo;ve run Oracle&rsquo;s Java platform on.<\/p>\n<p>  And it got me thinking. These technologies and companies have  contributed more to my happiness, productivity and view of the world than any  government has. <\/p>\n<p>  I know that&rsquo;s a fair jump to make, but at the time of  unboxing the MacBook there was some pointless tit-for-tat between Gillard and  Abbott on the TV. It was simply unbearable to watch.<\/p>\n<p>  I did a quick mental run through of the dollars I&rsquo;d  contributed to these technology companies. Over the course of many years, it  had totalled a lot. I also ran through the taxes I&rsquo;ve paid to the government  over my working life. Funnily enough it totalled significantly more.<\/p>\n<p>  I then tried to determine where I felt I was getting real  value for money. It was an easy determination.<\/p>\n<p>  Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Oracle won convincingly.<\/p>\n<p>  I decided to run a mock election. I put Tim Cook, Steve  Ballmer, Sergey Brin &amp; Larry Page, Jeff Bezos and Larry Ellison against  Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott. In a landslide defeat, the two political leaders  were comprehensively beaten.<\/p>\n<p>  At this point I also realised that perhaps I&rsquo;m not alone in  my reasoning. Might there be millions, or even billions of other people  worldwide that share the same view? I don&rsquo;t know if that&rsquo;s true yet, but I&rsquo;m  looking to hear people&rsquo;s thoughts on this.<\/p>\n<p>  My initial point here is <strong>technology multinationals<\/strong> have a  greater impact on the social fabric in today&rsquo;s modern age than political  systems do. This is something I&rsquo;ll go into more detail on in Part 3.<\/p>\n<h2>Appcrozonglecle: <em>(p.  Ap-kro&ndash;zon&ndash;gool&ndash;cool<\/em>) <em>def. A Very Big  Company.<\/em><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>  But let&rsquo;s look at the financial position of these multinationals  vs. some Nation States. Because I&rsquo;m certain they&rsquo;re bigger economically that  most countries.<\/p>\n<p>  The financial statements of <strong>Apple<\/strong>, Microsoft, Amazon, Google  and Cisco are amazing. Here&rsquo;s the revenue these tech giants had for the 2012  financial year.<\/p>\n<p>  From highest to lowest, Apple $156.5 billion, Microsoft $73.7  billion, Amazon $61.3 billion, Google $50.1 billion and Oracle $31.1 billion.<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>  <strong>Revenue<\/strong><br \/>\n  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyreckoning.com.au\/images\/dr20130517b.jpg\"> <br \/>\n  Now as a point of comparison let&rsquo;s have a look at the GDP of  a select few countries. New Zealand, Belarus, Sri Lanka, Croatia and Uruguay.<\/p>\n<p>  <strong>GDP<\/strong><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dailyreckoning.com.au\/images\/dr20130517c.jpg\"> <br \/>\n  Funnily enough the five tech companies are on par with these  countries in terms of the final total value of the goods they make each year.<\/p>\n<p>  Let&rsquo;s take stock of that. Apple sells per year in product  what the entire country of New Zealand creates per year in GDP. <\/p>\n<p>  Imagine if you combined Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google and  Oracle together and made one big company. Let&rsquo;s call it &lsquo;Appcrozonglecle&rsquo;.<\/p>\n<p>  Their combined revenues of $372.6 billion put them as the 31st  largest country in the world. Bigger than Columbia, Denmark, Singapore and the  United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n<p>  Then what if we look at their cash positions combined &mdash; that  is, how much cash to these tech giants have in their coffers?&nbsp; For a start, if they wanted to, Apple could  have bought Cyprus. And had change to wipe the total external debt of Singapore  for the fun of it.<\/p>\n<p>  That&rsquo;s right. Apple on its own has enough cash to eliminate  the total external debt of Cyprus and Singapore; over $130 billion. <\/p>\n<p>  These multi-nationals have greater economic power than  hundreds of countries in the world. They are financially managed more  effectively too. And they all turn a profit regularly (except for Amazon). <\/p>\n<p>  Add to this the combined direct workforce of the five tech  companies mentioned. The total population is over 400,000. Factor in the  indirect jobs they create and the numbers head into the millions.<\/p>\n<p>  There&rsquo;s so much money flowing through the doors and so much  cash hoarded. It&rsquo;s not unrealistic to think one, or a couple, of these tech  giants could buy their own country. <\/p>\n<p>  It would be the reversal of what happened during the GFC.  Instead of countries bailing out companies, we&rsquo;d have companies bailing out  countries.<\/p>\n<p>  The up side could be assuming power and control over the  governing body. Apple might create their own sovereign nation. <\/p>\n<p>  Of course I&rsquo;ll expand on this over the next few weeks but for  now, understand that economically the power has already shifted from the <strong>nation  state to the multinational<\/strong>. So what comes next?<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moneymorning.com.au\/about-callum-newman\" title=\"About Sam Volkering\">Sam volkering<\/a>.<br \/>\nEditor, <em>Money Morning<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/u\/0\/111160335563076067119\/about\" title=\"Join Sam Volkering on Google Plus\"><strong><U>Join me on Google+<\/strong><\/U><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n  <strong>Ed Note:<\/strong> Sam  Volkering is assistant editor and analyst for a new breakthrough technology  investment service to be launched by <a href=\"http:\/\/pro1.portphillippublishing.com.au\/121461\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Australian Small-Cap Investigator<\/em><\/a> editor  Kris Sayce. The breakthrough technology service will introduce cutting edge  investment ideas from the technologies of the future, including medicine,  science, energy, mining, and more.<strong><u> <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>From the  Archives&hellip;<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyreckoning.com.au\/the-higher-the-market-the-harder-the-fall\/2013\/05\/10\/\" title=\"Permanent Link to The Higher the Market, the Harder the Fall\">The Higher  the Market, the Harder the Fall<\/a> <br \/>\n  10-05-13 &ndash; Vern  Gowdie <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyreckoning.com.au\/indias-balance-of-trade-a-world-out-of-balance\/2013\/05\/09\/\" title=\"Permanent Link to India&rsquo;s Balance of Trade &mdash; a World out of Balance\">India&rsquo;s  Balance of Trade &mdash; a World out of Balance<\/a> <br \/>\n  9-05-13 &ndash; Greg  Canavan <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyreckoning.com.au\/how-the-dow-is-just-wall-streets-marketing-tool\/2013\/05\/08\/\" title=\"Permanent Link to How the Dow is Just Wall Street&rsquo;s Marketing Tool\">How the Dow  is Just Wall Street&rsquo;s Marketing Tool<\/a> <br \/>\n  8-05-13 &shy;&ndash; Dan  Denning <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyreckoning.com.au\/watch-out-for-when-australias-terms-of-trade-goes-back-to-normal\/2013\/05\/08\/\" title=\"Permanent Link to Watch Out For When Australia&rsquo;s Terms of Trade Goes Back to &lsquo;Normal&rsquo;\">Watch Out  For When Australia&rsquo;s Terms of Trade Goes Back to &lsquo;Normal&rsquo;<\/a> <br \/>\n  7-05-13 &ndash; Greg Canavan <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailyreckoning.com.au\/the-greatest-wealth-transfer-in-history\/2013\/05\/06\/\" title=\"Permanent Link to The Greatest Wealth Transfer in History\">The  Greatest Wealth Transfer in History<\/a> <br \/>\n  6-05-13 &ndash; Bill  Bonner <\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/MoneyMorningAustralia?a=LEgb6LdwpNI:sm_AMVP3QCg:yIl2AUoC8zA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/MoneyMorningAustralia?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/MoneyMorningAustralia?a=LEgb6LdwpNI:sm_AMVP3QCg:V_sGLiPBpWU\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/MoneyMorningAustralia?i=LEgb6LdwpNI:sm_AMVP3QCg:V_sGLiPBpWU\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/MoneyMorningAustralia?a=LEgb6LdwpNI:sm_AMVP3QCg:gIN9vFwOqvQ\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/MoneyMorningAustralia?i=LEgb6LdwpNI:sm_AMVP3QCg:gIN9vFwOqvQ\" border=\"0\"><\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/MoneyMorningAustralia\/~4\/LEgb6LdwpNI\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By MoneyMorning.com.au We might be in the early stage of a World Government Revolution. I&rsquo;ve had enough of the carry-on that comes from world &lsquo;leaders&rsquo;. It&rsquo;s frustrating that the money we pay in taxes finds its way into giant government pits of emptiness. I ain&rsquo;t getting value for money. Maybe there&rsquo;s a better way to &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/2013\/05\/30\/multinationals-vs-the-nation-state\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Multinationals vs. the Nation State&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38673\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}