Banking Gone Wild

[reggie]

Infographic: Banking Gone Wild
BY Cliff Kuang
Fri May 7, 2010

A graph of the 2000 largest companies in the world reveals the crazy size of the banking sector. Talk about too big to fail.

This elegant chart, created by Tiffany Farrant for GDS Digital (the second from her today, we know; we can't help it), started as merely a visualization of the Forbes 2,000, which lists the 2,000 largest companies in the world. And it does it's job with tremendous efficiency--it's pretty interesting to see, roughly, how big chemicals companies and media companies and transportation are, relatively to each other.

But then, one single thing leaps off the page: The GINORMOUS size of the banking industry--followed by insurance, "diversified financials," and...drum roll please!...oil and gas:



It makes sense that banking is so much larger than all of the other industries--after all, it's where all the other companies, as well as governments, go to salt their money away.

But in light of that, it makes the recent revelations about Wall Street's penchant for unregulated derivatives, "proprietary trading," and venal sales practices pretty chilling. How is it that the biggest part of our corporate landscape is also allowed to have the least oversight of the risks it they take on? We'd give up stunning infographics like this to see that change.

Original Article
The world's leading companies
By Mary Queen | 05/04/10 - 15:15
http://www.busmanagement.com/news/th...ing-companies/

Full Sized Image
http://www.busmanagement.com/media/m...gCompanies.jpg

[ThePythonicCow]

Re: Banking Gone Wild

But then, one single thing leaps off the page: The GINORMOUS size of the banking industry--followed by insurance, "diversified financials," and...drum roll please!...oil and gas:

That's friggin' insane! Thanks for the graphic evidence of our impending doom ;).

[ThePythonicCow]

Re: Banking Gone Wild

Wait just a minute -- are those numbers for the year 2000?

Ya think maybe, just maybe, it's gotten even worse since then?

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

P.S. -- Nah -- Not the "Year 2000", but the "Forbes 2000" biggest companies. Remove one EEK icon.

[Rajiv]

Re: Banking Gone Wild

Add Banking, Insurance and diversified Financials. That tells the story -- if you want to listen. The key thing is not sales, nor market size, but the assets held. What are financial assets? They are the loans outstanding, that are owed to the bank not the deposits in the bank. The banks and the financial companies are able to leverage, or rather create money from thin air. So this represents the endebtedness of the society. As Ellen Brown puts it, it is the Web of Debt,

When the debts are repaid, the assets of the banks and financials shrink. The strength of the banks comes from the power to create money by the stroke of a pen (nowadays by stroking a few keys on the keyboard), and the power to charge interest on that money.

Remember that all the derivative monsters when they are netted out, are also assets of FIRE!

[Fiat Currency]

Re: Banking Gone Wild

... The strength of the banks comes from the power to create money by the stroke of a pen (nowadays by stroking a few keys on the keyboard), and the power to charge interest on that money.

You forgot ... and the power to buy governments.

... Remember that all the derivative monsters when they are netted out, are also assets of FIRE!

They can keep them.