Drucker on what's happening to world economy

That by now ancient business sage, Peter Drucker, has written an excellent article on everything you need to know about where the world economy is going. Sample quote: 'There were 7,258 multinational companies in 1969. Thirty-one years later, in 2000, the number had increased ninefold to more than 63,000. By that year, multinationals accounted for 80% of the world's industrial production. But what is a multinational? Most Americans would answer: a big American manufacturer with foreign subsidiaries. That is wrong in almost every particular. American multinationals are only a fraction of all multinationals. Only 185 of the world's 500 largest multinationals--fewer than 40%--are U.S. (the European Union has 126, Japan 108). And multinationals are growing much faster outside the U.S., especially in Japan, Mexico, and lately, Brazil. Furthermore, most multinationals are not big. They're mostly small to medium. Typical is a German manufacturer of surgical instruments who, with $20m in sales and plants in 11 countries, has around 60% of the world market.'