Designed with the help of Google Gemini
For most of us, the deeper workings of world’s economic system remain a complete mystery, Most of us are resigned to having it stay that way, because of the seeming impossibility of figuring it out. And more important, our complete inability to do anything about it.
Wait a Minute!
There is actually something we can do to have our say in what’s happening. It’s called democracy. The only entities on earth that have the power and money to control the commercial interests are governments. And in a democracy, the voter’s knowledge of the issues is power.
A ‘Simple’ Example
The automobile industry is a great way to look at this, because so many of the brands are household names.
That Was Then
For many years, a few big names dominated the industry. These were usually associated with individual countries: Ford, GM and Dodge (USA) Peugeot (France); Rolls Royce and Jaguar (Great Britain) Fiat, Lamborghini and Ferrari (Italy) and Toyota, Datsun and Honda (Japan), to name the ones I grew up with,
The Picture Now
Worldwide business interests lately have changed all that. Brand names are bought and sold with no regard to original loyalties. Jaguar has now been owned by British Leyland, Ford, and now Tata (India). Volvo segued through Ford to Zhejian Geely Holding Group (China)
Now, a few big companies own multiple brands:
| Company | Owns |
| Volkswagen Group: | Volkswagen, Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Škoda, SEAT |
| Stellantis: | Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Peugeot, Opel, Citroën, Vauxhall. |
| BMW Group | BMW, Mini, Rolls-Royce |
| Tata: | Jaguar, Land Rover |
The Great Divide
And you are probably noticing a few non-automobile-sounding names slipping in. The real owners, the ones with stock majorities, aren’t manufacturers at all. They are holding companies. Digging one layer deeper, the real owners divide into two groups:
Publicly Owned (by shareholders)
| Holding Company | Net Worth | Owns Shares In |
| Vanguard | $10 billion | Ford, GM, Many Others |
| Blackrock | $150 billion | Ford GM, Many Others |
Government Owned/Influenced
| Company | Net Worth | Owned by |
| Stellantis | $20 billion | France |
| Zhejiang Geely | $39 billion | China |
| Tata | $100 billion | India/Netherlands |
| Renault Nissan Mitsubishi | $20-$30 billion | France/Japan |
The Bottom Line
This divide is probably healthy, keeping the industry under partial government control. Other industries are not so balanced.
Big Oil isn’t owned by oil companies. Exxon Mobil is owned by Vanguard, Blackrock, and State Street. Big Pharma is headed the same way, with the same three holding companies owning shares in Johnson and Johnson and Eli Lilly.
And always remember, all these big players on the stock exchange own shares in each other!
With the gap between the rich and poor widening, there seems to be a smaller and smaller group of people to hold to account, and the governments we elect are the only entities powerful enough to do that job. Vote wisely.