Want To See A Golden Circle?

national | anti-capitalism | other press Thursday May 13, 2010 21:09 by watcher

The network of powerful players within the golden circles of Irish capitalism becomes even clearer.

Just 39 people held powerful positions in 33 of 40 top public organisations and private Irish businesses in between 2005 to 2007, according to a new report from the TASC think-tank.

Over half of these 39 people held board positions in at least one of Ireland’s four largest financial institutions. The most tightly-interwoven of all 40 boards were three financial
institutions.

The new report also documents how these people were also very overpaid. During 2005-2007, remuneration for the CEOs of both private companies and State-owned bodies increased by more than 40 per cent on average, while inflation was at 9.1 per cent for both years combined.

Unsurprisingly, there was a significant lack of diversity among members of the Director Network. Only one in nine directors was a woman.

"We know too that when people know each other very well and share similar backgrounds, as many in the Director Network do, companies run the risk of ‘groupthink’, where decisions are made that ignore alternative evidence as a result of a group’s desire to reach consensus," said TASC director and co-author of the report Paula Clancy.

The first person to map out capitalism and power was artist Mark Lombardi in the US. There's a radio documentary online about him at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14...87185