

Only 8 of top global 25 companies in 1999 are still in top 25 in 2009 - cwan
http://aidwatchers.com/2009/12/the-triumph-and-terror-of-free-markets/

======
gizmo
On the one hand, I like how companies like Apple, Google and Nestle have done
well in the past decade (because I think these companies add significant value
to the economy), I'm less enthusiastic about the other trend.

Microsoft got kicked off the #1 spot and Exxon Mobil has taken its place. New
contenders in the top 25? Petroleo Brasileiro, PetroChina, Shell and Chevron.
I see a pattern here.

And JP Morgan Chase, they made it into the top 25 with $25B of TARP money.

Not making any moral judgement here. It never struck home to me how the
economy shifted in the past 10 years for the biggest companies, so I thought
I'd comment.

~~~
startingup
You hit the nail on the head. This is really the effect of the massive credit
bubble - natural resource companies and financials. Given the way things are
going, we will likely see a lot more of this in the next decade.

~~~
andreyf
I'm not sure how natural resources are a bubble. They might not compete in the
same way companies which innovate on their products do, but they're certainly
not under-valued. Financials, on the other hand, are a bubble in which major
shareholders have complete control of the legislative process in the US.
Consider the power of the federal government to bail out those "too big to
fail", and that bubble seems pretty unlikely to pop.

~~~
anamax
> Consider the power of the federal government to bail out those "too big to
> fail", and that bubble seems pretty unlikely to pop.

Every bubble pops. Trying to keep a bubble from popping makes the eventual pop
significantly worse.

------
gaius
Original article (PDF)
[http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/wsj_DecadeSector...](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/wsj_DecadeSectors091220.pdf)

------
trezor
It also seems that the US's share of top companies is in decline with non-US
countries' shares nearly doubling in that timeframe.

I find it interesting to note how petroleum and financial companies now seems
to be increasingly dominant. You could almost get the impression that the US
has outsourced absolutely everything except harvesting oil and shoveling money
around.

Although I'm sure the picture is a little bit more nuanced than that (as you
can see the same thing for other countries too) it does show an interesting
trend and makes you wonder how this may turn out in the long run.

