But they've stopped growing

As a sample, last quarter Microsoft reported revenue of a bit over $9 billion. If they did that for the whole quarter, their total revenue might be $36 billion. Against a US GDP of 10 trillion. That isn't even a fraction of a percent of the US economy.

Of course Microsoft is more notable for profits than revenue. Let's go with a bigger company. You don't get bigger than General Electric, with the largest market cap in the world. They have also been around for a long time - they are the only member of the original DOW to still be listed in the DOW. How has their quest for world domination gone?

2004 was a good year for them. Their revenues were $152.2 billion, up from $134.2 billion the year before. That's under 2% of our GNP. But they are a worldwide company - I don't know what fraction of that income was US based. However even so, if after a century the most successful capitalist company in history can't manage to get to 2% of our GNP, then the dreaded future of a single monopoly that owns everything is going to be a looong way off.

Cheers,
Ben

Post #192,122 by ben_tilly 1/28/05 3:54:27 PM Reply	But they've stopped growing And their attempts to enter new markets have been stalling at great expense. (See the X Box.) Plus their competitors in several markets are on a growth trajectory (Linux, Apple, Firefox...). None of this bodes well for their future. Cheers, Ben I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
Post #192,341 by mmoffitt 1/31/05 8:29:47 AM Reply	OMG! They "stopped growing" at 97% market share. Go figure. bcnu, Mikem Eine Leute. Eine Welt. Ein F\ufffdhrer. (Just trying to be accepted in the New America)
Post #192,361 by ben_tilly 1/31/05 12:02:00 PM Reply	As pointed out already, no company has come close to that As a sample, last quarter Microsoft reported revenue of a bit over $9 billion. If they did that for the whole quarter, their total revenue might be $36 billion. Against a US GDP of 10 trillion. That isn't even a fraction of a percent of the US economy. Of course Microsoft is more notable for profits than revenue. Let's go with a bigger company. You don't get bigger than General Electric, with the largest market cap in the world. They have also been around for a long time - they are the only member of the original DOW to still be listed in the DOW. How has their quest for world domination gone? 2004 was a good year for them. Their revenues were $152.2 billion, up from $134.2 billion the year before. That's under 2% of our GNP. But they are a worldwide company - I don't know what fraction of that income was US based. However even so, if after a century the most successful capitalist company in history can't manage to get to 2% of our GNP, then the dreaded future of a single monopoly that owns everything is going to be a looong way off. Cheers, Ben I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)

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