Bigger, Richer, Stronger

Thomas Piketty would probably not deny this picture. The inequality gap is also widening among the large international groups where a few stock exchange giants are seizing power. All we need to do to be convinced is to look at the top 100 global earning rankings set each year by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). What can we see there? That Apple – the biggest among them – increased its size by 54 percent in one year. That 13 companies earned more than $250 billion while there were only two such companies in 2009. Or that it is necessary to be worth more than $85 billion to be in the top 100 – twice as much as six years ago … These stock exchange behemoths mostly come from the ranks of USA, Inc.; the United States monopolizes the first five seats and more than half of the rankings. China and the United Kingdom are hanging in there. France is trailing behind with only four members instead of the six it had last year in the face of a declining eurozone. To what is the success of these leaders due? For the U.S., it is due mainly to the strength of the dollar and Wall Street; to the size of the Chinese market and the willingness of Beijing to build stock exchange giants. But not just that. Increasingly, there is a “size effect,” which allows some big groups to shine at the international level, to make aggressive acquisitions, and to attract even more shareholders. A size effect, especially, that boosts their capacity for innovation. It’s not surprising to find young high tech companies (Facebook, Alibaba) or biotechnology companies (Gilead, Amgen) in the top 100. Apple was worth only a few billion 17 years ago and Google was barely around at the time. France, whose CAC 40* is still very “old economy,” could learn a few lessons from them.

*Editor’s Note: The CAC 40 (Cotation Assistee en Continu) is a benchmark French stock market index which reflects the performance of the 40 largest equities in France.