It is becoming increasingly apparent that the world populace (both citizens/ servants and regulators/leaders) has come to the realization that 1) monopolies can cause catastrophes, and that multinational mega-monopolies can probably cause catastrophes of am exponential magnitude. Monopolies emerge from imperfections in the capitalist system (there are some lumps of coal in with the diamonds), and from government's interface with the private sector -- instead of the regulatory agencies being "trust-busters," they have increasingly become grantors of huge opportunities to preferred private sector entities.
Generally speaking, the larger the monopoly, the greater the danger of dependency and consumer victimization; going further (as did the EU Commissioner and others who withdrew their earlier interest in a plan which would lead to the combination and joint governance of the Deutsche Borse with the NYSE - two of the world's most powerful, active and economically influential bodies - in a derivatives deal.
The significant issue is not so much is not the "deal" -- the issue is that the populations of entire countries are in a state of economic collapse due to the concentration of power in the bodies which are charged with the responsibility of maintaining orderly financial markets. Internationalists, while wishing to combine social intercourse and lively multinational, global commerce on a grassroots level, are very, very wary of the idea of consolidating and concentrating even more power (and eliminating even more competition and regulation) in the hands of a smaller number of proven failures.
Mergers of small responsible companies can create operational synergies through economies of scale, while mergers of pampered, privileged Goliaths only produce a greater 'critical mass' of toxic waste and meltdown material...endangering a larger population more of the time and to a greater extent. These are not synergistic or beneficial to the national or international communities in any way -- they are irresponsible, hazardous trash heaps which also have the disbenefit if invariably leading to deepening divides between nations, not unlike the tenuous state of the European Union.
For a quick review of the defeated deal, the following article extract appears, courtesy of The
Wall Street Journal. When you've finished reading it, please hit the "BACK" button on your browser and come back to join us for our quick synopsis of the multinational mega-mergers:
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European leaders defend decision to block DB-NYSE deal
EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia and other officials defended their decision to reject the proposed merger of Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext. "We decided to block the deal because it would have established a near monopoly in the market for listed derivatives based on European interest rates or equity," Almunia said. "Because derivatives are vital for Europe's economy, we could not let this happen." The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (02 Feb.)
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Lord Acton's rumored utterance that "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," proves itself with every merger of giants. These don't benefit sovereign states or their constituents, nor do they benefit the spread of healthy, open-spirited Internationalism -- they increase risks, dependencies and animosities.
Douglas E. Castle for THE INTERNATIONALIST PAGE
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