14 December 2015

Gentlefolk,

This post discusses the Forbes 2015 List of Most Powerful.

Forbes List of Most Powerful

Every November Forbes Magazine publishes a list of the world's most powerful people - power covers both 'hard' and 'soft' power. Perhaps more accurately described as the "most influential".

This year there are 73 names on the List - one for every 100 million people on earth.

Time Magazine does something similar, but I have found the Forbes List more believable.

The 73 names comprise 66 individuals and seven leaders of International Organisations: UN; WHO; World Bank; IMF; European Bank; Catholic Church; NGO = Gates Foundation.

Here are the top ten on the Forbes 2015 List

Table 1: Top Ten Forbes 2015 Most Powerful

Name	Position & age
Vladimir Putin	President, Russia 63
Angela Merkel	Chancellor, Germany 61
Barack Obama	President, USA 54
Pope Francis	Leader, Catholic Church 78
Xi Jin Ping	President, China 62
Bill Gates	Co-Chair, Gates Foundation 60
Janet Yellen	Chair, US Federal Reserve 69
David Cameron	Prime Minister, United Kingdom 49
Narendra Modi	Prime Minister, India 65
Larry Page	Co-Founder, Google 42

The top three are Putin, Merkel and Obama.

Traditionally the US President has been #1 on this List, but I guess President Obama is in his last year and seen as a "lame-duck" President.  Also, the 114th Congress is dominated by the Republicans which makes it even harder for him to get things done.

In contrast, President Putin is seen as decisive and strong.  He was also ranked #1 last year.

Angela Merkel has been promoted to #2 on the List.  She has certainly had a remarkable career (Germans have, generally, elected good leaders since WW2) and is facing huge challenges with the influx of so many displaced "migrants", but do you really think she is the second most influential person on earth?

I was surprised to see China's President Xi Jin Ping at #5.  Personally, I would rank him #1 or #2.

I analysed the 66 individuals on the List by "Region".

Table 2: Forbes 66 individuals by Region

Regions	% of 66
USA  & Canada (29)	44%
Asia (18) (Chin 8; Jap 4; Ind 3; Kor 3)	27%
Europe (4) + Russia (4)	13%
Middle East (7)	11%
Latin America (3)	5%

There are 28 Americans on the List and one Canadian (PM Justin Trudeau), so they dominate with 44%.

The big surprise is Europe (excluding Russia) with only four names on the List: Merkel, Cameron, Hollande and Arnault of LVMH ... the 'Old World' losing its relevance?

Chinese

There are eight Chinese individuals on the List (plus Margaret Chan of the WHO).  The eight Chinese are:

#5 Xi Jin Ping, 62, President of China, Gen Sec of the CPC; Chairman of the Military Commission

#12 Li Ke Qiang, 60, Premier of China (Head of Govt)

#22 Jack Ma Yun, 51, Founder of Alibaba Group (e-commerce)

#31 Li Ka Shing, 87, Chair CK Hutchinson Holdings, Hong Kong (shipping,etc)

#42 Ding Xue Dong, 55, Chair China Investment Corporation (investment).

#48 Pony Ma Hua Teng, 44, Founder of Tencent (social media).

#56 Robin Li Yan Hong, 47, founder of Baidu (search engine)

#68 Wang Jian Lin, 61, Chair Wanda Group (real estate)

Omissions: Personally I would include President Joko Widodo of Indonesia.  Indonesia has a population of some 250 million, is hugely important in South East Asia, and could play a bigger role  in the debate on Islam. Also, perhaps, Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia?

What do you think of the Forbes 2015 List? Who would  you include / exclude?

I guess that's one of the attractions of such Lists - lots of potential for lively debate.

...

That's it for this post.

Best wishes, keep well, and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Monday 14 December 2015

Qingdao TV produced a program featuring two foreign teachers, Dr Laxmisha Rai and me.  To view click HERE.  It goes for about 25 minutes and alternates between Rai and myself.  Mainly in Chinese but with enough English to get the gist.