A new global economic order is coming into focus. The political empires ofold are being replaced by giant transnational corporations, TNCs. A 1993UN report says, "The universe of TNCs is large, diverse and expanding,"and that they "are increasingly potent features of the world economy."Reflecting the mobility of capital, national boundaries are less and lessrelevant. While corporate headquarters may be in New York or Tokyo,production facilities are in Indonesia or Thailand, and banking operationsare in Panama or the Bahamas. The growth of TNCs is spurred bysophisticated communications technologies such as electronic moneytransfers which are difficult to control and regulate. Thus profits vanishinto the ether and are untraceable.

John Cavanagh
John Cavanagh is a specialist in international trade, economics and development issues. He is a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and the Transnational Institute in Washington, D.C. He is the co-author of Global Dreams: Imperial Corporations in the New World Order.