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Courtney Twing
Dr. Reid
English 102
16/3/2015
War and Politics
Article 1
The first article, When Bankers Rule the World by David Korten, is about Wall
Street bankers maximiz[ing] their personal financial take without regard to the
consequences for others (pg 310). Korten states that Wall Street distracts and lies to the
public by making people believe that we best fulfill our individual moral obligation to
society by maximizing our personal financial gain, money is wealth and making money
increases the wealth of the society, and making money is the proper purpose of the individual
enterprise and is the proper measure of prosperity and economic performance (pg 311). The
lies and distraction coupled with support from outside sources, suggests Korten, are a
contributing reason why they feel entitled to large bonuses. Korten believes that Wall Street
has changed our understanding of the words money and wealth; money is just a number, and
true wealth includes necessities such as healthful food, fertile land, pure water, clean air,
caring relationships (pg 311). He argues that money is what makes it easier for the world
to go round, but wealth is the reason behind economic activity, and wealth is for what we
should be living. Korten presents the idea that we are all slaves to Wall Street because they
have woven words into their description which sound tangible, but they have no true value.
In addition, they use money as a weapon. In a modern society in which our access to most
essentials of life from food and water to shelter and health care depends on money, control of
money is the ultimate instrument of social control (pg 312). Essentially this means that
workers and the middle class are owned by Wall Street because the things they need are
bought with money. Eventually it becomes so bad that they cannot pay off large debts. As a

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result, they take out loans and debts to pay off money owed without the means to pay this
new debt. Eventually they have to take out loans to pay off the other loans and also interest
mounting on prior unpaid debt; hence, they are slaves to money and Wall Street. Kortens
solution, an approach to which Occupy Wall Street is bringing attention, is to shift the
power from Wall Street to Main Street (pg 313). He submits that American economy
flourished with financial establishments which were based on the community, and it even
pulled the nation through World War II. Local establishments may have been small, but they
were powerful and more beneficial to the less wealthy.
Article 2
The Transnational Economy, by Deanna Isaacs, is about not being able to recover the
economy, and that technology is to blame, stating: technological innovation is taking jobs
away rather than increasing them (pg 316). As the skilled labor force is replaced by
machines, the productivity increases, but with technology comes the ability to outsource and
supervise from anywhere in the world. Most of the goods sold in America have
employment, sales, and assets outside their home country (pg 316). A transnational
corporation (pg 316) is not a positive step in the global economy because instead of being
invested in their own country, they no longer care about their own workers. Why would they
when they can get cheap labor from literally anywhere else in the world? Isaacs does not
propose a direct solution, but the article seems to be more of her way of addressing the issue
of the global market and economy.
Synergy
Both articles address the issue of a failing economy in the United States, and each
author has their own opinion of the origin of said failure. David Korten believes that the
deficiency resides in Wall Streets corruption and manipulation of the American people. He

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states that Wall Street is deceptive with the simple overall goal to acquire money rather than
true prosperity and wealth for the nation. Deanna Isaacs conclusion about the origin of
economic failure resides in a lack of internal focus on materials, labor, and sales. Instead, she
argues, companies look for the cheapest ways of creating goods for the best return of sales
(giving little to no regard for ones own economy or employment rates).