> increased apace with the expansion of global capitalism. In time, US
> capitalism may lose its still dominant position, but for now US firms
> continue to outnumber those of any other country in the Fortune global
> 500, US capital markets are the deepest in the world, and the USD is
> remarkably still seen as a refuge in times of crisis, even one centred
in > the US.
Ranking companies exclusively by country populations skews the results, due to the comparatively small size of the constituent EU countries. But the per capita data suggests the US has no advantage vis-a-vis Europe or the wealthier East Asian economies.
As far as capital markets go, there's a big difference between US Treasuries, which are safe investments, and the rest of the US financial system, which is still an overleveraged mess. The share of dollar-denominated assets in the world's foreign exchange reserves keeps declining -- I think its down to 61% today. The euro is now a serious competitor, and the BRIC currencies are very likely to become regional reserve currencies in the near future.
-- DRR