Economy of Canada: Study of Ownership and Control

A landmark intervention in Canadian political economy, The Economy of Canada is a trenchant critique of the dominant theories used to explain corporate power in Canada. Jorge Niosi moves beyond tired paradigms?Marxist finance capital, managerial control, and elite theory?to offer a bold, data-driven rethinking of who really owns and controls the Canadian economy.

Drawing from extensive government and regulatory data, Niosi dismantles myths about foreign influence, the demise of family capitalism, and the assumed unity of corporate elites. Instead, he reveals a deeply rooted and distinctly Canadian ruling class: a ?big bourgeoisie? anchored in interlocking directorships, family ties, and regional concentrations of power in Montreal and Toronto.

At once rigorous and provocative, the book critiques icons like Berle and Means, Park and Park, and C. Wright Mills, while proposing a new class-based framework for understanding ownership in Canada. Though Niosi?s own model remains more suggestive than definitive, this work stands as one of the most serious empirical and theoretical contributions to debates about power, capital, and class in Canadian society.

Essential reading for sociologists, political economists, and anyone seeking to understand the structural foundations of corporate Canada.