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Introduction:

Some years ago, of the world&#39;s 100 largest economic entities, 51 were corporations and 49 are countries! This was in 2000. Even after the crisis in 2008, the multinationals corporations have grown bigger and bigger. This is by many seen as a big problem. What is the problem? Sometimes we buy a McDonalds burger or we fill Shell petrol on our Volkswagen and buy a Coca Cola while at the petrol station before we go home to our Apple computer and open Google. All this is good. All products and services mentioned are made and provided for by big multinational corporations. 
 
What is the problem? The problem is the sheer size of the corporations and how they execute the power this gives them. Their economies are bigger than many countries&rsquo; economy. They are so big and mighty that they can avoid being restricted by laws and rules of the country where they operate. If they don&#39;t like the laws or the politics of a country, they just move to another country with more relaxed laws. 
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This is the backside of globalization. No laws of any nation can control the activities of the big transnational corporations. They are so big that they can do as they please. They press the wages in one country, don&#39;t pay taxes in another country and pollute the environment in a third country.&nbsp; Even if they do all these things they tell the world that they are responsible companies following the laws of each country and providing goods and services to people. The money they earn extra, because of e.g. tax-avoidance, they claim as a positive thing, because they now can invest more in their business - or other businesses. Welfare, people, less money in the public sector is no issue for them They perform capitalism in its extreme, with a neo-liberalistic concept. The big multinational corporations work hard to avoid constraints. Their desire is a total laissez faire system with free enterprise where self-interest is in highest regard. 
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This system of exploitation is morally defended through the idea that when some get rich, the wealth will trickle down in the population and, maybe, reach the bottom of the society. Side effects like pollution from big oil, big coal and big mining is downplayed. The big polluters spend huge amount of money convincing people that everything they do is a good thing. 
 
Monsanto say they are feeding the world.&nbsp; McDonalds like the big cigarette companies, deny that their food is unhealthy. Nike defends their low wages in Indonesia, the oil industry denies the science behind the global warming and the coal companies have launched the concept of &ldquo;clean coal&rdquo;. And they have money enough to influence lots of people, including politicians and other decision makers through their massive lobbyism-budgets. At the moment the big companies are getting bigger and mightier, even if their activities are really bad for the world. There seems to be a conflict between the big multinationals and their activities and people in general. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. 
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The question is if this can continue or if there will be changes that break the power of the big companies. At the same time that the big companies accumulate more and more capital, there are too many poor people in the world. The rich could face problems with denying the plight and suffering of the poor in all eternity. At the moment there is an increasing scepticism towards the big companies and their manipulation with e.g. taxes. People will protest, and they will maybe in the future to a greater degree than today start to co-operate, start to work together, start living together, start small activities as a counterpart to the big multinationals. When a single pay-check is insufficient for a decent living, people will seek options. 
 
But is this enough to break the dominance the big multinationals? Maybe not, but it might be enough for people to be able to live better lives. 
 
Henry Ford made his company a success when he gave the workers such high wages that they could buy his products, i.e. the Ford (model T) cars. The modern transnational corporations seem to steer clear of Henry Ford&rsquo;s insight.

Directive:

The task is set to 5 hours. 
&nbsp; 
Read the introduction and the questions and make sure you understand the overall aim of the task. 
Read ALL the files. 
&nbsp; 
How to use this task: 
Variant 1. 
You can solve the task individually by answering all the questions in the form of a 2-page text. 
&nbsp; 
Variant 2. 
You can solve the task commonly, where your teammates and you share different parts of the topic among yourselves and present to each other in a form of a course. The whole course with all the parts shouldn&rsquo;t exceed 2 hours. 
Each one of you will end up with a 1-page text about your part of the topic and the conclusion from your part of the course. All the materials you used for your part of the course should also be send to your teacher. 
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Use additional sources if you find it beneficial, especially if you have chosen the variant 2. The origin of additional sources must be noted for control. 
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1. Read file 1 about international corporations, sometimes called multinational corporations, and sometimes called transnational corporations.
<ol style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">
	<li>Explain an international corporation, its main characteristics and doings and the difference between a transnational and a multinational corporation.</li>
</ol>
2. Read file 2 about transnational corporation.

<ol style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">
	<li>Explain the main criticisms of the activities of transnational corporations?</li>
</ol>
3. Read file 3 about American mega corporations. This file compares the economy of some of the biggest corporations with the economy of smaller countries in the form of a slide presentation.

<ol style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">
	<li>Explain the influence such large companies can have on smaller nations, their politics as well as their economies. When answering this question, take your answer to question 2 into consideration. Consider the size of the economies of these big corporations.</li>
</ol>
4. Read Files 4a and 4b about corporate influence on the UN.

<ol style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">
	<li>Explain the main challenges from transnational corporations towards the UN and global governance and regulations.</li>
</ol>
5. Read File 5 about making corporations accountable.

<ol style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">
	<li>Explain, with examples, how national states have rules and regulations governing the various activities, and why and how the big multinational corporations are avoiding any form of regulation, national or international. What are the main contradictions?</li>
</ol>
6. Read file 6 about Ecuador and the transnational corporations.

<div style="margin-left: 40px;"> 
a. Explain the main challenges between Ecuador and the transnational companies. How can Ecuador, as a poor nation, secure its interests? What is done, can be done, towards transnational companies to behave just and respectfully? 
 
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&nbsp;</div>

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