Australia Has a Transnational Capitalist Class
This chapter looks at the apparent contradiction of a transnational capitalist class (TCC) within the Australian nation state and asks if they do exist what is their relationship to the Australian Capitalist Class (ACC)? Is their relationship comfy, cooperative or conflictual? The test for these likely scenarios is material that comes from a longitudinal study of interlocking directors and major shareholders (drawn from the top 30 companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) 1992-2007 and 300 top Australian companies listed on the Huntley's 2007 shareholder database) plus interviews with top thirty company directors over a 15 year period 1992-2007. The Australian interlock case study 1992-2007 illustrates the key organizational power structure of top national business through multiple top board interlocks. The Owner Penetration Index (OPI) allows us to measure and then point to the growing significance of TCCs in the form of J. P. Morgan, Citicorp, and HSBC. Keywords:Australian interlock case study 1992-2007; Australian Stock Exchange (ASX); Citicorp; HSBC; J. P. Morgan; Owner Penetration Index (OPI); transnational capitalist class (TCC)