Goldman Sachs CEO Warns Against Protectionist Policies

[ardvark]

Source: Wall Street Journal

By Sarah N. Lynch
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) Chairman and Chief Executive Lloyd C. Blankfein indicated he isn't inclined to cave in to political pressures to let the visas of foreign workers expire as other financial companies may do.

Speaking before the Council of Institutional Investors Tuesday, he said protectionist policies aren't going to spur economic growth and may end up causing more harm than good.



Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090407-709091.html

---

I am soooooooo glad we have this guy watching out for our 'best interests'.

But perhaps he doesnt understand - American workers have to work for a living

We cant just get multi-million dollar welfare like he does

[jwirr]

1. Of course they do not want us wrecking their empire. Too bad.

[OhioChick]

2. Protectionism?

India firing foreign workers to give jobs to locals

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Jobs/Expatriate_executives_making_way_for_local_hires/articleshow/4039529.cms

[Kalyan]

14. wrong .. India Inc isn't exhibiting protectionism

India Inc isn't exhibiting protectionism. it is exhibiting cost-control measures. Most of the expats drew higher salaries than their Indian counterparts and when the time to cut cost came, it was the higher cost resources who were given the marching orders.

Please don't link this with protectionism. The govt isn't asking companies to fire expats or only hire Indians.

Edit: The last sentence of the article - Mr Vohra says sectors such as ultra mega power project or biotechonology, where specialised skill is required, expats are still being hired.

[ChromeFoundry]

16. The "ignore feature" works well for certain individuals who seem to follow you around. n/t

[OhioChick]

18. Thanks. Duly noted and used.

;)

[Kalyan]

25. you are right ..

esp. when you only want a forum to vent rather than to learn things you never knew. Thanks for the lesson! Never shall i try & educate someone to see the big picture. fundamentalism at it's best ...

[ChromeFoundry]

26. This assumes that you have all the answers

and everyone else has something to learn from you. Pretty full of yourself...listen much?
The point I was making was that you can only play rock-paper-scissors for so long before it's time to say, "wow, this game is a waste of time."

When you come into a conversation thinking that you are the educator and everyone else is a pupil, you are the one that has shut off half of your senses and close yourself off from learning anything new. This is why there is an ignore feature! Get over yourself, you are no where near as smart as your narcissistic mind would have you believe.

[Kalyan]

27. nope ...

"everyone else has something to learn from you" - yes, i do have something to learn from you all. isn't that the idea of a forum. sharing insights (right or wrong) and learning from it.

"you are the educator and everyone else is a pupil, you are the one that has shut off half of your senses and close yourself off from learning anything new." - prove it.

"Get over yourself, you are no where near as smart as your narcissistic mind would have you believe." - i thought of a hundred "smart" responses to this comment but felt that it would be inappropriate to slander someone whom i barely knew. If that means i amn't smart, so be it.

I don't know what got you started - if you read the thread, you would have noticed that i was correcting OC's statement about India firing expats as a protectionist measure. The article that he provided didn't indicate that. The article clearly states that the expats were fired because they were expensive & there were local replacements at lower cost. Where there weren't local replacements, hiring was still on. Everything in the article was contrary to what OC assumed. I didn't see any harm in pointing it to him. I have no idea why you got worked up on the issue.

As you rightly assumed, i am from India & have refrained from making any pro/anti outsourcing statement on this forum. I have only gotten involved where i thought that the facts about India weren't presented correctly. And i don't think that's banned in this forum. I shall however take note that you wouldn't want me to comment on anything that you post in the future. Never again shall you get disturbed by me. Hope that makes you happy.

Have a nice day.

[Deja Q]

3. Whatever, Blankbrain.

They bleat "Waaah. Doing this will cause more harm and lose incentive and blah blahbedy blah."

Well, guess what the workers and potential workers aren't doing because of these guys? :dunce:

[MannyGoldstein]

4. How About We Outsource Blankfein To China?

Send him an the rest of our overlords to China to run its economy.

[closeupready]

5. Why? Cuz it'll cost you money?

Tough.

[No More Bushbots]

6. Raygunomics is dead

Obviously this guy hasn't gotten the memo.

[ardvark]

7. TechAmerica: 'Tech Jobs Grew, U.S. Needs More H1-B Visas'

TechAmerica, would NOT lie about something like this - LOL

Visas'
Tuesday, April 07, 2009 9:32 AM/EST
TechAmerica: 'Tech Jobs Grew, U.S. Needs More H1-B Visas'
Seems like anyone with an agenda slices and dices the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics for their own purposes. Separting the agenda from the facts gets murky sometimes.

http://blogs.eweek.com/careers/content001/h-1b_foreign_workers/techamerica_tech_jobs_grew_us_needs_more_h1-b_visas.html

looks like ITAA spun off a new sockpuppet

Who is TechAmerica? TechAmerica is a Washington, D.C.-based trade organization known to describe itself as being the amalgamation of the following groups: "TechAmerica was formed by the merger of AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association), the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA), the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) and the Government Electronics & Information Technology Association (GEIA)."

[OhioChick]

9. Tech Layoffs Surge to 300,000

Tech Layoffs Surge to 300,000

Source: Washington Post/Tech Crunch

Tuesday, February 17, 2009; 3:56 AM


Layoffs in the tech sector are accelerating. It took exactly three weeks for tech layoffs to surge to 300,000, according to our Layoff Tracker. Since late January, when the tracker hit 200,000 layoffs, another 100,000 job eliminations have been announced or completed. In contrast, it took five weeks for layoffs in the tech industry to hit the 200,000 mark, and four months for layoffs to hit 100,000 last December. The total number of layoffs since we began tracking since the financial crisis began in late August is 300,093.

The past few weeks have particularly brutal for the technology space, with substantial layoffs announced by Pioneer (10,000), Cisco (3,000), Panasonic (15,000), NEC (20,000), Electronic Arts (1100) and AOL (700). Even Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, who both managed to avoid layoffs in the past few months, were forced to make cuts to their workforces. And Google, who was immune to layoffs until late January, continued giving pink-slips in the past three weeks with the company's exit from radio. Sadly, a few start-ups weren't able to weather the storm, with eBaum's World cutting all of its workforce.

Obviously the tech industry is not immune to the current economic climate, and if the past three weeks are any indication, things could still get worse for the tech space before they get better. Maybe that economic stimulus plan will help turn the tide.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/17/AR2009021700921.html

Tech jobs "grew?" Yeah, right. :eyes:

[Dr.Phool]

11. Yeah, just like the "cut" in defense spending is actually a big fat increase.

Framing the Debate
04.07.09 -- 12:37PM
By David Kurtz

You can lose a debate before it even starts if it's framed badly for your side. When it comes to protecting their hallowed weapons programs, defense contractors and home state congressmen have a vested interest in framing the debate as much to their advantage as they can get away with. But that doesn't mean the media has to be complicit in the framing.

As Brian Beutler points out, too much of the coverage of Defense Secretary Bob Gates' proposal -- trimming some major weapons programs and reallocating the money elsewhere in the Pentagon while increasing the overall defense budget -- casts the debate as between those who would cut defense spending (Obama/Gates) and those who want a strong muscular defense (GOP and hawkish Democrats).

We've been grappling with this question for going on 20 years now: How should the U.S. restructure its military in a post-Cold War world? It's time we stopped using a 20-year-old framing of the debate.


http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/04/framing_the_debate.php

[No More Bushbots]

13. Tech jobs have been taking a hit since 2000

Lets see full employment for American Tech workers before H-1B's are issued.

[Jefferson23]

8. Yea, more harm to the fat cats, he forgot to clarify that.

[fascisthunter]

10. we don't care what you think, nor would we trust you

[MannyGoldstein]

12. But We Are Trusting Him

Under the Paulson/Summers/Geithner Banker Bailout, we'll be handing him a few trillion more of our tax dollars, and trusting that he'll use it wisely to earn back the money that his industry has destroyed.

[fascisthunter]

19. exclude me from the "we"

because irregardless how this administration choses people and what they decide, I have an independent opinion. I want all those bastards out.... but hey, they have to have their New World Oder.

[balantz]

15. Sachs of Gold owns our government (and our gold). n/t

[antimatter98]

17. Like asking the fox is chicken coops need locks. Guy belongs in jail, not in the media. n/t

[Joe Chi Minh]

20. CEO of Goldman Sacks? Wow! What a privilege to get the "good oil" from

Goldman Sachs's finest brain.

[Mari333]

21. what an ass. nt

[ardvark]

22. Help the Economy and Federal Deficit by Raising H-1B Caps

April 7, 2009
Help the Economy and Federal Deficit by Raising H-1B Caps
by Jena Baker McNeill and Diem Nguyen
WebMemo #2384
On April 1 of each year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) starts accepting applications for the H-1B visa. For the past several years, the number of H-1B visa applications has easily surpassed the annual cap of 65,000, sometimes in a matter of days. Even with the economic downturn, the USCIS is still expected to receive enough applications to fill the 65,000 cap.

Congress must raise the H-1B cap back to 195,000 visas per year--the maximum allowed as recently as 2001.Raising the cap for H-1B visas will not steal American jobs but will help promote economic growth and generate much needed tax revenue.

More H-1B Visas Helps the Economy


http://www.heritage.org/Research/Immigration/wm2384.cfm

asking these 'Think Tanks' how to help the economy is like asking Tony the Tiger-tm what to have for breakfast

Frosted Flakes! They're Grrrrreat!!!

what a surprise

[ardvark]

23. no matter how many jobs are lost they push this crap -nt

[aquart]

24. Well, there's someone you want to listen to.

I'm sure we're all for protecting his bonus.

[BeyondGeography]

28. Lay off Blankie, he took a 39% paycut in 2008

He made $70 million in 2007 and $43 million last year. You see a pirate in denial. I see a man in pain.