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The world's 100 largest economic entities
Fifty-one are corporations, and General Motors comes in at number twenty-three, just ahead of Denmark (the data are from 2000, Wal-Mart should be higher than listed, among other changes).
Here is the full list, courtesy of the ever-interesting Geekpress.com.
To be sure, these comparisons are problematic. Yearly sales are not strictly comparable to gross domestic product. Furthermore countries "hold" human capital and other forms of wealth in ways that corporations do not. Read Eric Rasmusen on the immense wealth of the United States. So these measures underestimate the economic significance of nations relative to corporations. Still they offer an object lesson in the importance of effective culture and incentives. How should Bangladesh feel, 133 million people strong, with a yearly gdp smaller than the sales of Hewlett-Packard?
Addendum: Here is more detail on why the comparisons are misleading. In a nutshell, gdp figures are based on "value added."
Posted by Tyler Cowen on June 17, 2004 at 03:01 AM in Data Source | Permalink
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Marginal Revolution: Of the world's one hundred largest economic entities, "fifty-one are corporations, and General Motors comes in at number twenty-three, just ahead of Denmark..."... [Read More]
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» "Countries Still Rule" from Exploit the Worker
Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution recently ressurrected an old fallacy. He writes, that of the world's one hundred largest economic entities, "[f]ifty-one are corporations, and General Motors comes in at number twenty-three, just ahead of Denmark (the... [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 18, 2004 3:10:28 PM
» "Countries Still Rule" from Exploit the Worker
Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution recently unknowingly ressurrected an old fallacy. He writes that, of the world's one hundred largest economic entities, "[f]ifty-one are corporations, and General Motors comes in at number twenty-three, just ahead of ... [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 18, 2004 3:17:52 PM
» "Countries Still Rule" from Exploit the Worker
Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution recently unknowingly ressurrected an old fallacy. He writes that, of the world's one hundred largest economic entities, "[f]ifty-one are corporations, and General Motors comes in at number twenty-three, just ahead of ... [Read More]
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