Thom Hartmann: If you were a CEO seeing Americans suffer - would you bring jobs home?

[thomhartmann]

Run time: 07:15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQD24_cNPVw   Posted on YouTube: May 24, 2011 By YouTube Member: TheBigPictureRT Views on YouTube: 51   Posted on DU: May 24, 2011 By DU Member: thomhartmann Views on DU: 937

 
The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann on RT TV "live" 9pm and 11pm check www.thomhartmann.com/tv for local listings

[wxgeek7]

1. Thanx Thom!

Thanx Thom!

I'd gladly pay a little more money for products MADE in the USA :)

[defendandprotect]

2. Love Hartmann -- and great question!!

[qb]

3. A CEO's duty is to worship the almighty dollar.

Any CEO who inadvertently cuts into profits by helping American workers will be fired by the shareholders. Thats pure capitalism, and it sucks. Help for workers comes from government regulations.

[nichomachus]

4. Actually, you're right, but

it's required by law. Corporate law requires that the CEO and directors maximize return to the shareholders. They have no other duty. If they don't, they can not only be fired, but can be sued by shareholders.

In many cases, shareholders are institutions -- like your 401K -- and the managers of those funds are also required to maximize profits. So, they can't cut any slack to underperforming CEOs.

It's corporate law that needs to be changed.

[qb]

5. Wow. Thank you for clarifying that.

:hi:

[Billy Burnett]

6. Long term, or short term?

Looking at it in the long term, they seem to be failing (if/when the US econ collapses if they have their short-term way).

[nichomachus]

8. Short term -- always short term

Next quarter's results, which is all the investors care about.

[bulloney]

7. Oh gawd!! Another brainless gerbil from the Hermitage Foundation.

I've debated some of their clowns like Dennis Avery on panel discussions and listened to other HF members at other events.

If brains were cotton, you couldn't get enough out of the Hermitage Foundation to make a T-shirt for a piss ant.

Why do some people think giving trans-national corporations all of the cards and let the laborers in this country nothing to work with is good for this country?

Thom is one of the few people to bring up the point that more than half of what we call "trade" is intra-firm - corporations moving goods within their corporation across international borders. That's not trade. That's glorified inventory shuffling.