Quote:If US companies don't manufacture things in places like China and import them to the US, then French or German companies will.   Like it or not, we are in a global competition, and the idea that we would hamstring US companies or penalize them for competing is about the worst idea in the world. ... It would double the cost of Iphones and Samsung would put Apple out of business. 

 

 

Quote:GE has a responsibility to its millions of shareholders to make as much money as is legally possible.   If that means opening a plant in China, so be it.   They're not doing anything illegal or immoral.   They are doing what they are supposed to do: make money.   If they do anything else, they should be thrown in jail.  

 

 

I think this is a big part of what needs to be addressed in discussions of how the government should interact with corporations. Corporations have one overarching goal, to provide return to their investors. While I think you miss a bit by discussing U.S. vs French or German corps., that might be a misunderstanding on my part. My understanding is that most of these U.S., French, and German corporations (or any other nationality) are discussing are actually 'branches' of MNCs. It seems to me these MNCs are very adept at playing a sort of shell game to protect their assets by playing different countries' policies against each other. But as corporations, that is exactly what their job is. What is incumbent upon us as citizens is deciding what governmental policy should be in response to this. 

To take a totally different example, look at seat belts and airbags in the auto industry. Detroit fought tooth and nail against regulations requiring them, as it was an expense they wanted to avoid. The governmental response was to (eventually) require them. Expecting Detroit to do differently voluntarily is wishing it had a sense of social responsibility exceeding what corporations have demonstrated throughout history.

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