I can also refer to Joel Bakan's book 'The Corporation - The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power'
It describes a mechanism how large corporations have subverted the traditional political power balance that has existed since WW II until the early '90's.
Until then the corporations had no political power and the political classes (except for the liberal parties) were keen on properly framing corporate behaviour.
Through various means (IMF, banks, lobbyists, pressure groups, and to some extent even the unions,...) the corporations have acquired political power and hence are able to shape the framework that should be governing them.
In that perspective the abolishing/not introducing mandatory voting has ensured that the political caste is no longer representing the People in all its aspects.
As expected the lower social strata are the ones to first drop out of the system thereby yielding their power for other players to pick up. The corporations have not hesitated a single moment to do that.
Suddenly instead of undergoing a regulatory framework, they have suddenly become active players and you can't expect them to shape the framework in a way detremental to their own interest.
Instead of a government that protects pricing mechanisms in the interest of a stable society, we now see a governmental framework that encourages predatory corporate behaviour.
But there are already some economists that are highlighting this problem but with the corporations also owning most of the communication channels, one has to make an effort to make such counterbalancing views.
So to answer your question, I think it is not a conscious conspiracy, but a conjuction of circumstances that have mostly to do with the decoupling of ownership and responsibility. There has been a time where every shareholder was liable for the behaviour of the corporation. Severing that relationship has on the one hand given us the incredible global economic growth of the last 150 years, but I guess by now the whole concept is up for a correction.
AI
