[Stanley Tools] point was very clear: Screw America, its Workers and it's Tax laws.
That is certainly the spin that Grassley, Gephardt and many others in Congress would like people to believe. But, that just doesn't hold water.
It was more than just the board that made that decision. The stockholders had to vote on the move. And, guess what? The stockholders voted to reenergize their Stanley stock and keep Stanley competitive in the market, by reducing production costs to the level of their competition through a move offshore. The stockholders had the final word and they chose to keep Stanley viable.
It has nothing at all to do with greed. In fact, they knew that by moving offshore, they would face a backlash from misinformed buyers, who bought into the government's spin. But they were backed into a corner by the government. It isn't greed, when all that you are doing is just trying to stay competitive. In business, you either compete or go under. The US government made it impossible for them to compete as a US company and I somehow don't believe that the board or the stockholders saw going under as an option. Stanley took the only legal route left open to them by our government.
Well actually, it was prompted by greed, but not corporate greed. It was caused by the greed of our elected officials in Washington, who want to control wealth that they did not earn.
You must remember that a corporation is not a living entity. It is not even just one or two rich people who control it. Those board members have to answer to the stockholders. And, many of those stockholders are little guys, whose retirement may depend in large part on the future success of that corporation. I didn't happen to have any Stanley stock, but from what I heard, I would have probably voted for the move. Their offshore competition was going to eat them alive within ten years if they didn't leave and it was all because of US tax compliance costs.
Several studies have concluded that if the United States were to implement a National Retail Sales Tax, new capital would stream into the United States, much of it previously expatriated capital.
Bottom line... That attitude of "punish the wealthy for protecting their hard earned wealth" is the same attitude that has led Congress to cause this whole debacle. The plain fact is that you cannot legislate wealth to come to your country or stay there. You can only entice or discourage. The greed of those in Congress has led them to attempt to legislate that which cannot be legislated and that is what is discouraging the wealthy. That is why they are leaving.