Adonis Diaries

Finally, Mighty Market, Finance, and Liberal Capitalism have “human faces” to confront…

There are 63,000 capitalists owning over 100 million, and their total wealth represents the internal value of the entire world production or $40 trillion.

Two out of 1,000 individuals control 50% of the world capital exchange.  These portfolios are managed by:

1. Banks: Goldman Sachs, Santander, BNP Paribas, Societe Generale…

2. multinational insurance corporations such as AIG, Axa, Scor…

3. pension investment funds such as Berkshire Hathaway, Blue Ridge Capital, Soros Fund Management….

You may fill as many as you want after reading the list of corporations below…

For decades, the media, the political candidates and the elected public figures denied knowing who are the movers and shakers in the world of Markets, Finance, and multinational corporations.  Politicians refused to name and give human faces to these liberal capitalists.

And the liberal capitalists denied meddling in politics.

The world of Mighty Market, Finance, and Liberal Capitalism was an abstraction, money and power acting in a disembodied cloud, anonymous fluid power and might…How could any elected representative confront invisible and unidentified enemies?

French current President Francois Hollande lied on his campaign. He said: “I am fighting a veritable adversary: He has no name, no face, no party, will never be a candidate and thus will never be elected…My adversary is the world of Finance…”

For decades, politicians and financiers have been switching roles and jobs and playing musical chairs. The world of finance would finance political campaigns, and when the politician finishes his tenure, he will re-integrate the world of “private multinational corporations”, and cycle resume ad nauseam.

For example, Pierre Moscovici, President of the French industrialist lobby, financed Francois Hollande’s Presidential campaign; and Kenneth Griffin of Chicago Citadel Investment, financed Barack Obama campaign…

You recall how after the financial crisis, the US Administration and most capitalist States inducted the financiers leeches in their government? Why? The political leaders claimed there were no “financial experts” in the public service and no such “technocrats” among the entire pool of citizens who are a little conversant in finance or have any idea of how sub-primes mechanism work and function…  The kinds of John Paulson, Laurence Summers….

Now you have names and faces to confront and fight the good fight for the sanity of mankind, his miseries, and indignities.

The first list mentions the current politicians coming from the world of finance and corporations as “experts” and “technocrats”… Just to revamp, reform, and steady this confusing political catastrophic environment…by more budget restraints at the expense of the downtrodden and lower middle classes…

Italy is the first example, representing the capitalists who donned the mask of current politicians, and you watch the succession of such occurrences in the coming years. You may do the research of who is currently ruling Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Greece, the USA, Britain…

Mario Monti PM (Italy) was teaming with Coca Cola, Goldman Sachs, Fiat, and Generali

Corrado Passera (Italy),  Minis. of Economic and Development, coming from Intesa Sanpaolo

Elsa Fornero, Minis. of Work, coming from Intesa Sanpaolo and prof. of economics in Turin Univ

Francesco Profumo,  Minis. of Education and Research, coming from UniCredit Private Bank and Italia Telecom (controlled by Intesa Sanpaolo , Generali, Mediobanca, and Telefonica)

Piero Gnudi, Tourism and Sports and from UniCredit Group

Piero Giarda, Minister of Parliament relations, coming from Banco Popolare and Pirelli

The next list is of former public political figures who switched to the world of private multinational corporations (do you know the name of such specimen currently ruling in your government?):

Public Political Figure        Former Position    Political Party     Multinational Corp.

William Clinton,                    National Economic Council

Laurence Summers,                Finance Minister                           D.E Shaw

Alan Greenspan,                            Federal Reserves                    Pacific Investment Management

Paul Volcker (USA)                     Federal Reserves                                                JPMorgan Chase

Henry Kissinger, State Department, joined JPMorgan Chase

Mario Draghi                                                                                                                        Goldman Sachs

Jacques de Larosiere                                                                                                     AIG, BNP Paribas

Lord Adair Turner                                             Standard Chartered Bank, Merryll Lynch Europe

Alexandre Lamfalussy                                    CNP Assurances, Fortis

Tony Blair PM (Britain) accumulate posts with Zürich Financial Services, Landsdowne Partners, JPMorgan Chase

David Miliband (Britain Labor foreign affairs) joined Vantage-Point Capital Partner, and Indus Basin Holdings (Pakistan)

Peter Mandelson (England representative to the  European trade commissioner) joined Lazard

Wim Kok PM (Holland)                    Internationale Nederlanden Groep (ING), Shell, and KLM

Gerhard Schroder PM (Germany)  Nord Stream AG, Gazprom (Russia), Suez, and Gasunie

Otto Schily (Germany) and Minis. of Interior Social-Dem   Investcorp of Bahrein

Wolfgang Clement, Minister of work and economy, at River-Rock Capital, Citigroup (Germany)

Caio Koch-Weser, Foreign Affairs and Finance, joined Deutsche Bank

Peer Steinbruck, Finance minister, joined Thyssen-Kripp

Wolfgang Schussel PM (Austria)   Conservative    Investcorp of Bahrein

Giuliano Amato, Vice President of European Convention, at Investcorp of Bahrein

Kofi Annan (UN Secretary General), joined Investcorp of Bahrein and JPMorgan Chase

Franz Vranitzky PM (Austria)           Socialist                  Canadian Magna International

Felipe Gonzalez PM (Spain)                 Socialist                  Tagua Capital, Gas Natural

Carlos Solchaga (Spain)       Finance Minister     Socialist                    Citigroup, Fitch (Fimalac)

Mrs. Gro Harlem Brundtland  (Scandinavia)      Social-Democrat    PepsiCo

Thorvald Stoltenberg                                                   Social-Democrat     East Capital Asset Management

Goran Persson                                                                 Soc-Dem                      JKL Group (Publicis)

Lord Mark  Mallock-Brown  UNPD administrator  GeorgeSoros

Note: Post inspired from a piece by Geoffrey Geuens in the monthly French Le Monde Diplomatique, May 2012. Geoffrey Geuens teaches at Liege Univ. and is the author of “Imaginary Finance” (La Finance Imaginaire), “The Anatomy of Capitalism”, and “From financial markets to Oligarchy”