Trésorier/Treasurer magazine - N°99 - Nov/Dec/Jan 2018 - 42

devoir
se
contenter
des
miettes
laiss
Will the winner take it all?

LE MAGAZINE DU TRESORIER / TREASURER MAGAZINE

N°99

- NOV /

DEC / JAN 2018

example,
largely
a result of these huge stock-market
We may reasonably ask ourselves whether the winner is
chanson
...
«
as
the loser standing small
»...
capitalizations. Technology and digital economy stocks are
actually going to take it all - you will all remember the famous
exemple
qui
rthan
ésulte,
pour
industrial
grande
stocks.
partie,
de
becoming
bigger
the biggest
The
stock
ABBA song. With what is now called the "FAANGs" (Facebook,
havenbeen
a high
by these giga-market
Amazon,
Apple,
Netflix and Google)
having
to such
On
peut
légitimement
se
poser
la
grown
question
de
asavoir
market
si
le
vindices
ainqueur
e
va
sent
pas
ontout
emporter.
Vous
vous
capitalizations.
phenomenal size, we may well ask this question. The size of
souvenez
tous
de
cette
fameuse
chanson
du
groupeBBA.
Avec
ce
qu'on
appelle
désormais
les
sont
valeurs
industrielles.
Les
indices
boursiers
these companies and the war chests they can deploy, along
«
F
AANG's
»

(
i.e.
F
acebook,
A
mazon,
A
pple,
N
etflix
e
t
G
oogle),
n
ous
p
ouvons
p
oser
c
ette
q
uestion
tant
with their access to credit if they need it, potentially enables
them
to
take
over
everything
to
hike
their
growth.
Are
we
leur
taille
est
devenue
phénoménale.
La
taille
et
le
trésor
de
guerre
sur
lequel
sont
assises
ces
sociétés
on the threshold of a "winners' economy"? Unfortunately, I
ainsi
que
leur
accès
au
crédit,
si
nécessaire,
leur
permet
de
tout
acquérir
potentiellement
et
d'accélérer
fear so. The economy has been completely transformed and
croissance.
Sommes--‐nous
entrés
dans
une
«
économie
des
gagnants
»
?
On
peut
le
craindre.
isleur
becoming
ever more
digital. The big fish
swallow
up the
smaller
ones
mercilessly.
L'économie
s'est
transformée
et
devient
de
plus
en
plus
digitale.
Les
gros
poissons
dévorent
les
plus

petits
sans
pitié.

Amazon is expected to become the world's biggest and most
diversified company very soon, if Google doesn't get there
first. That is why, to paraphrase the famous superhero film,
we might call them the "FAANG-tastic Five".

It looks as though nothing can halt their growth and the
blind belief in what they can do. They are becoming too big
to fail. Nothing seems to be off limits to them, even finance
or banking. For instance, we may see Apple becoming a
payments bank and Facebook becoming a consumer credit
institution. I say again "Faang-tastic", nothing is impossible!
Are these superstar firms the trees that stop us seeing
the wood? Maybe. Some economists go so far as to claim
that their dominant position and exponential growth might
explain some macro-economic trends such as the long-term
decline in interest rates, for example. Unbelievable, isn't
it? But terrifying as well! When Facebook makes profits
equating to one third of its revenue, we are left speechless

in wonder. It couldn't get any better! "The chips are down",
as the croupier would say. We should then ask ourselves

whether bigger means more robust and better in the world
of Western capitalism. That is far from sure. These "big five",
With
their
tentacles
reaching
out
ever
further,
Ces
sociétés
tentaculaires
se
diversifient
au
point
de
these
pouvoir
prétendre
à
tout.
Gsavannah,
oogle
pourrait
devenir
behemoths
of the economic
redistribute
these companies are diversifying to the extent that
only a portion
of their
profits
andscash
by way
of
producteur
de
voitures
ou
Amazon
gérer
une
compagnie
aérienne
de
immense
fret.
Les
autres
ociétés
semblent
they can try their hand at everything. Google could dividends. They hoard them rather than redistribute them,
devoir
sae
car
contenter
des
miettes
laissées
par
cend
es
fauves
féroces.
Les
grands
deviennent
toujours
plus
become
manufacturer
and Amazon
could
and try to grow even bigger still. They reinvest in everything,
grands
e
t
é
touffent
t
oute
c
roissance
p
ar
a
cquisitions
des
plus
petits.
assets,
ABBA
nfore
example
chantait--‐il
pas
at
cette
including
in financial
in bonds,
the
up managing an air freight company.
risk
of disrupting
markets.
Surely the bloated
chanson
...
«
the loser standing small
»...
?
La
gestion
indiciaire
qui
the
émerge
actuellement
est
size
un
of
parfait
these giants plays its part in further heightening inequalities
It looks as if other companies will have to make do with the
exemple
qui
résulte,
pour
grande
partie,
de
ces
énormes
capitalisations
boursières.
Les
valeurs
in income and wealth between businesses and countries?
scraps left over by these ferocious beasts. The big boys
technologiques
e
t
d
e
l
'économie
d
igitale
d
eviennent
p
lus
gsenior
randes
en
taille
qisue
la
plus
grande
des
The
way
management
remunerated
in shares
and
are becoming ever bigger, boosting growth by taking over
share
options
in
their
employer
makes
them
pampered
the
smaller
fry.
Do
you
remember
ABBA
singing
"the
loser
valeurs
industrielles.
Les
indices
boursiers
sont
dopés
par
ces
«
giga--‐market capitalizations ».
rich employees. They too become the envy of "ordinary"
standing small"? The current rise of trackers is a perfect

Table des matières de la publication Trésorier/Treasurer magazine - N°99 - Nov/Dec/Jan 2018