For over 300 years , captains of industry in Europe and particularly in Britain have practised greedy and nefarious policies in the colonies, bleeding them dry and in the process making millions' poor and destroying local industry . This happened in India thru the 18th, 19th and half of the 20th centuries . It has been well documented how the opuim industry and slavery were encouraged on a large scale across continents thru plantations in India, Mauritius , the West Indies etc . Labour from india was forced to move to work as bonded labour in these countries causing untold misery to thousands of families . .The seed money for many of the top companies in Europe came from such activities . After spending years in India during which he fought illegal wars, took over countries,amassed huge personal wealth Robert Clive retired to England 1760,t the age of 35 with a fortune of GBP 300,000, and a pension of GBP 27,000 per year ! So there is a precedent after all !

It was a combination of state policy , the church and military might that gave the western corporations their huge size and reach which eventually made them bigger than the countries they operated in . The East India Company which wrought havoc in India by building an army , collecting taxes , conquering and subjugating Indian states , looting and pillaging rich Indian treasuries was an extreme case of the unbridled business practices at the time . They not only stole the wealth of the nations but also scientific knowledge and concepts built up over years of study and research . They are known to have passed these stolen concepts as their own !
The US which was a recent player in this game operated primarly in the Middle East , with oil , in the Philipines with agricultural products , in South America with capital, minerals, oil ,agricultural products .
Today, what one sees happening in the banking systen , in the oil cartels etc is nothing new ; but the difference this time is that they have done it to themselves, cheated their own people and impoverised millions in Europe and America. A study of European economic history , would reveal the truth and criminal exploitation behind the wealth of European corporations.
Businesses must be built up by marketing and selling reasonably priced products that have inherent utility to mankind and produced thru fair practices by paying a fair wage and rewarding all stakeholders.Only this is a sustainable model . The business model followed by these multinationals have largely been to market products that best suited them and maximised profits and sell them in captive markets using their nexus with their own govts and that of the colonies . A fair wage and reward for stake holders has been far from the minds of buccaneers and brigands who ran businesses in the colonies . Old habits die hard and have become embedded in the DNA of companies . There is no other explanation for the greed and enormous wealth acquired by the C E O S' and the callous manner they reward themselves with huge bonuses with no feeling of contrition even while their companies collapse.

There are hints of racial arrogance in the way the crises played out and in the immediate aftermath .The same mind set that created a Robert Clive also nurtured Kenneth Lay and Fred Goodwin. Alan Greenspan and George Bush provided the frame work for them to operate and thrive . They deliberately overlooked the need to regulate ?! All of the civil wars going on in Africa have European companies behind them funding and arming groups willing to give them free access to precious stones and minerals in their control. 'blood diamonds' a product of such wars has gained international notoriety and is banned in "legitimate business".

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime" - Balzac

The western, so called developed countries are in turmoil . social unrest is building up and is targetted at the very rich who are seen as having amassed illgotten wealth by stealing from the poor. The rift in the bloc is also acquiring racial overtones. The Brazilian President speaks of 'blue eyed races" being the cause of the melt down ; the French and Germans accuse the Anglo Saxons and so on . Houses of bank chiefs and offices have been attacked in london ; bank staff have been warned to remain as unobtrusive as possible .The media and the politicians are also whipping up the anger, unmindful of where this would end . A transformation in terms of institutional collapse and seething public anger on this scale is unheard of in modern times .Whether the momentum peters out or gathers momentum is for the political system to deal with . So far the rising anger is being given an opportunity to run itself out ; govts are seen to be understanding and indulgent

The G 20 will need to be seen to be ruthless with the erring bankers and to protect the savings and incomes of the common man . A strong regulatory body headed by persons of high integrity , not cronies as in the past should be put in place . Even while toxic assets are being taken care of , toxic attitudes of managers need to be addressed The primacy of holding economic wealth in trust by businessmen ( an idea propounded by Gandhi and whose time has certainly come ) should be established once again . Investment and spending needs to be encouraged to get the economies moving once again . People need to get their jobs back and assets protected

Mahatma Gandhi advised newly elected politicians of free india to think of the poorest of the poor in our coutry and how it would affect them whenever they took a decision . While Gandhi said this with consumate ease with his usual felicity with words, Obama was struggling to get the analogy right during his press conference after the G20 summit. These are the powerful ideas we will need to go back to achieve a degree of social equilibrium . The G 20 need to become part of the change they want to see.

During the last 2 decades one scam after another has been hitting the world corporate sector with unfailing regularity . Pious statements of reform are made , some of the crooks are sent to jail and then it is back to business as usual . will this happen again?