Multinationals and East-West Relations

Book excerpt: WHEN in the future historians examine the second half of the twentieth century, they will no doubt identify the accelerated inter-nationalization of production as a landmark comparable with the Industrial Revolution. In this process multinational enterprises have been leading actors in the past twenty-five years and are certain to continue to be so in the next quarter-century. In 1975 the sales of the Western multinational corporations represented one-fifth of the Gross National Product of all capitalist countries. If their growth is maintained at the same rate as over the period 195o-75, by the end of the century this share will be nearly one-half and the whole capitalist economy may very well be dominated by some 200 giant corporations of which three-quarters may be American-based.