ABSTRACT
In Britain, the Company of the Mines Royal originated in 1564 as a "joint-stock company," an early name for a corporation. A year later, the Company of Mineral and Battery Works was formed, followed in the early 1600s by several utilities, including the New River Company that supplied fresh water to London. According to the proponents of free market capitalism, however, the profit motive is simply what oils the wheels of the economic machine. By the late 1600s, as the number of corporations in Britain multiplied rapidly, so did corruption and fraudulent enterprises. In "The Greed Fallacy," published toward the end of 2008, Arthur MacEwan writes: Various people explain the current financial crisis as a result of "greed." Walmart Watch has often commented on the many ways that corporation's greed affects local communities. Beginning in the 1970s, financialization has become dominant not just in the US, but in the global economy.
