[Red Boots]

Capitalism seems to work best when there are government constraints to keep a balance between various factions...workers, owners, communities, etc. It seems that the problem is that the corporations have superceded the governments, globally, that maintained the balance.

I guess I see it differently. All these corporations that are taking jobs overseas, do you ever wonder why?

They have to make a profit, and there are too many regulations ( passed by greedy governments, and approved by greedy taxpayers who are hoping to get something for nothing); and excessive demands by unions.

Then if your company does have a great quarter (like Exxon), even if it's after 10 years of barely scraping by; the government passes a windfall profits tax and takes it.

Or, you get a group of greedy lawyers and politicians who go after your profits based on junk science like many tobacco industries; lumber companies and chemical companies.

Why should they stay ? Just to make money so that other people can use the power of government to steal it ?

I think most corporations have been exceedingly tolerant of the very anti-business climate here. We ought to be thanking them for the jobs that they do create in this climate, instead of further blaming them for having to obey the laws of economics.

[NormB]

Oh yeah thanks for reminding me, where the hell is my torte reform??

[raybbr]

They have to make a profit, and there are too many regulations ( passed by greedy governments, and approved by greedy taxpayers who are hoping to get something for nothing); and excessive demands by unions.

Feh! It is greed.

I have a neighbor that provides scaffolding for nuclear power plants. He has decided to go to China for his parts. It saves him about 20% percent on material costs. He went there and paid off the locals. He was wined and dined and provided prostitutes.

Since he has done this the company that used to provide the parts here in the U.S. has lost his business.

A company in China is paying for some real cheap labor. The kicker is that he got about 85% of all the contracts. He had no real competition.

Now you have about ten or so boats in China being raised but only one here. Let's not forget the great tips he gives the prostitutes, either.

[chris1]

A lot of these companies want to reap the reward of outsourcing to india ect, all while at the same time seeking protection by the US in the courts and a place to live.

If these companies love China and India so much, why don't they pack up 100% and go live there?

[grania]

I guess I see it differently. All these corporations that are taking jobs overseas, do you ever wonder why? They have to make a profit, and there are too many regulations ( passed by greedy governments, and approved by greedy taxpayers who are hoping to get something for nothing); and excessive demands by unions.

That's certainly part of the imbalance. The unions and non-union technology workers in the '90s got outrageous demands met. Governments did go overboard.

So, now you've got the consequence for the imbalance which, with globalism, is the obilteration of governments. This is leaving workers, communities, and nations at the mercy of corporate greed.

Don't know what the answer is. Just know the way we're going just might destroy civilization as we know it.

[lucysmom]

They have to make a profit, and there are too many regulations ( passed by greedy governments, and approved by greedy taxpayers who are hoping to get something for nothing); and excessive demands by unions.

There is enough greed to go around from CEOs, whose pay and perks know no limits and are unrelated to performance (seems the most creative idea they've had in the last decade is shipping jobs to low wage, third world countries) to seeking and getting outright government subsidies and tax exemptions.

Its too bad that corporate behavior doesn't provide much evidence that left to self regulate they will operate with much integrity. Regulations generally come AFTER some egregious misbehavior is discovered.

Getting something for nothing seems to be an American value shared by those at the top with those all the way down to the bottom. We don't admire integrity, fair play, hard work, and honesty, we revere wealth and wealth becomes its own morality.

Or, you get a group of greedy lawyers and politicians who go after your profits based on junk science like many tobacco industries

Junk science? You're kidding, right?

[BlackbirdSST]

They have to make a profit,...

No, they were profitable here, it's just that they'll be MORE profitable with a workforce that earns pennies a day! It's called GREED. Used to be a dirty word. Blackbird.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

Free Enterprise does need some constraints. Adam Smith and Milton Friedman argued for that. Capitalism is a Marxist word, so I prefer to use Free Enterprise. Read Friedman's book "Freedom to Choose." Individual should make their own economic decisions, not government. Government is inefficient as it spends other peoples money. I believe in economic freedom as well as political freedom. Multinational corporation are not a threat to economic freedom as long as we have anti-trust laws. Of course Ayn Rand would disagree with that.

[Sam the Sham]

Oh, pity the poor, poor corporations ! Just scraping by because those greedy Americans wanted to end the days of company towns, company police, sweatshops, emphysema, and company stores !

Hey, Red Boots ! Those corporations live in a world order that is guaranteed by American soldiers, American laws, American tax dollars, and the blood of American soldiers. So don't tell me they have no higher obligations than shareholder equity.

Capitalism won the cold war because it provided the people of the west with an obviously higher standard of living than communism could provide. Now with the end of the cold war the multinational corporation thinks it can revert to robber baron methods.

[Sunnyflorida]

Bravo!