WHY are we a 'global economy'?

[Deja Q]

I don't see the logic behind the quote.

We're still a country with a gross domestic product, that needs people to spend money.

'global economy' is the excuse as to why millions have lost their jobs, with more on the way.

And the concept can't last forever anyway. With peak oil they can still sustain the concept for a while, but eventually it'd be cheaper to re-hire the fired staff for twice their original pay. (but by then there wouldn't be enough oil to strike a match)

:shrug: Please edify an ignorant naive dude. Thanks.

[punpirate]

1. Well, in a country whose government puts...

... the interests of multinational corporations first, and citizens second, of course enabling a global reach for raw materials and cheap labor would be important. That's why we are a global economy.

It's no wonder you're confused. You still think the government's obligation is to the people first. :)

[Deja Q]

2. Well said! Especially when the world's governments are NOT trying to

merge to become a unified entity, in which case a global economy would just about make rational sense.

It's a dichotomy. They want things both ways.

[CoffeeAnnan]

3. I think the term Global Economy was invented to hide the idiocy

of our corporate managements who have allowed what once were profitable corporations to run into the ground.They accomplished this feat over the past four decades by not investing monies in product research and development,allowing managements to get exorbitant salaries not connected to performance.Because of their own ravenous appetites, they were also forced to give wage concessions to labor unions not connected to productivity.Now that the bills are coming due and our corporations are having difficulties in staying profitable against overseas competition, they have decided to make their American workers the scapegoats of their own inefficiency and want to move the corporations to China or India.The term 'Global Economy' is shorthand for 'Let me screw you guys one last time before I sell out to a Chinese or Indian corporation.' Capeesh?

[Deja Q]

4. Welcome to DU, and AWESOME POST!

:yourock:

Assuming that excess CEO profiteering isn't part of issue, I think you've nailed it on the head.

When the collapse comes, I hope that the dollar becomes utterly worthless. Then they will be in the same boat as the rest of us. A boat called 'Titani¢'.

[CoffeeAnnan]

5. I also think that the investment banking business over the years

has made it possible to hide the inefficiencies of corporate managements by allowing a shell game called Mergers and Acquisitions in which a corporation changes hands at the drop of a hat much in the way elizabeth taylor used to change her hsubands.Each time this change took place, corporations assumed huge debts.Thus debt service has become a major expense for many of our corporations just like GW's management of our economy with its huge deficits is making debt service the number one item in our budget.When this happens you will
not be able to make the company profitable no matter how low the interest rates are.This is why it is possible for a Toyota to move its manufacturing to this country and make profitable cars while GM and Ford are having a hard time making rent payments.

And, these are the people GW wants us to model after.'Ownership Society','Global Economy' are all scams.When you cannot make money the old fashioned way, you invent scams.

[McKay]

12. It's true that some of these transactions

are unquestionably shams. But M&A can also increase efficiency a good deal: all of a sudden, half the executives are out of a job. On the other hand, the severance packages could feed Ethiopia for a decade. . .

[newyawker99]

19. Hi McKay!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[napi21]

6. Two answers. Corp mgmt. greed, and people insisting on cheap

products.


Corp mgmt greed includes excessive salaries for the top titled employees, and their response to Wall Street's unreasonable demand for consistently high profits.

The People insisting on cheap products is the primary reaason for the success of Walmart! Ask everyone you know if they would be willing to pay more for the same products if they were assured they would be made in America, and you'll see how few really are. I worked for a company who was a supplier to Walmart. If your product is carried by Walmart for more than one cycle (contract term), they insist on a price reduction of 10%, and will tell you they don't care how you do it! To remain competitive with WM, most otheer high volume businesses have turned to these same tactics.

[bryant69]

7. Well there is an element of positive in the idea

I mean we are an economy dependent on all the other nations of the world. We aren't an island. If workers in Mexico or Vietnam or Angola or anywhere have it tough, it will inevitably make it hard for workers in America. Environmental problems don't follow borders either. So while it certainly has some negative aspects (particularly as international trade is largely unregulated), the idea could have some positive aspects as well.

It's a matter of understanding. Some Corporotions look at the global economy and see an endless amount of people to screw. We should look at it and realize that we need to be for justice and good jobs and worker protections and environmental standards for everybody, because we can't pretend that the suffering of workers in China or Brazil or whereever won't affect us.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[KlatooBNikto]

8. If our corporations were run better by ethical people, even this

idea of the positive which I agree with could have been accomplished without the sleight of hand the original post made clear.Our idol worship of CEOs makes it impossible for us to see that these are just ordinary men whose only claim to fame is they have more money than you and I do.Probably they are also more greedy than the average person and have no qualms about making exorbitant claims to their own omnipotence.

[Strelnikov_]

13. The Positive Element You Note Is A Fallacy

Europe prior to WW I had an interdependent economy and was relatively prosperous, and still went to war with each other. Also, your dream of 'justice and jobs' assumes governments that are responsive to the peoples needs. Look at the US, an established democracy, and the Corporatist takeover of it's elected officials.

The only way to deal with the current situation, which is the destruction of the middle class and therefore our democracy, is the following:

- Implementation of a guest worker program to stop the labor black market in this country, coupled with enforcement of laws regarding hiring of illegal immigrants.

- Implementation of tariffs indexed to the level of environmental/labor/social protections in the exporting country. The people of the US implemented laws addressing these issues, and companies should not be able to bypass these laws by exploiting foreign labor. Also, I am willing to take on Japan/Germany/South Korea on an equal footing, but not Communist China, where most workers are essentially serfs.

- Implementation of universal health insurance, disability, and full employment programs by the Government. This will remove the ‘employee overhead’ that makes most employers in this country reluctant to hire additional employees during upturns. Health insurance, disability and unemployment will now become a function of the union we all belong to, the US. And the union will provide everyone a baseline survival paycheck to anyone reporting for work at a government provided work center.

[leesa]

9. I guess the goal is for nations to dissolve and rich corporations rule the

world. That's why the head of Viacom says he's voting for Bush because it's good for Viacom. These people don't give a rat's ass about America because to them countries are obsolete and a handful of corporations will rule the world. They will just loot our treasury until it's gone and use us for cannon fodder as they expand their empire.

It DOES become problematic, though...typical GOP shortsightedness...if no one has money, who will they sell their crap to?

[McKay]

10. GOP shortsightedness doesn't even begin

to describe it. The economic strategies and the foreign policies currently in play don't make for a good combination. We're shifting one factor of production - manufacturing labor - entirely overseas, and at the same time we're pissing off the rest of the world. This is a recipe for disaster. All that has to happen is for our brand new "enemies" to realize that we don't actually make anything here anymore, jack up the tariffs (or even call them sanctions!), and this sorry excuse for an economic model is toast.

[Brian_Expat]

11. We are NOT a "global economy"

If you believe otherwise, just take a plane to Canada, England, Australia or Ireland and try to get a job without a visa or local passport.

[Deja Q]

17. I know that. But that is whay they are calling it. And they are deceptive.

If it is to be global, then it needs to be the same for all. But then, why isn't our presinut * trying to create a fair world government along with a 'global economy'? (he wants a world government, but in his own image.)

As it stands, it's just a scam. An exclusive American-only club whose actions sink to the lowest level for the benefit of the fewest at the expense at the largest majority. It's disgusting.

I'd even call them traitors for abandoning this country's infrastructure and economy because their actions are killing off the class that's needed to KEEP the economy afloat. (I'm not A-level economist, but I know enough.)

[Nikia]

14. It is another form of Colonialism

Corporations originating in more prosperous countries are exploiting third world people and resources. Even though some say that it helps local people when these corporations move in, it does not help the locals build their own businesses at all. It creates a system where the foreign corporations hold power over the employees and pretty much the whole country.

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. You answer your own question. Oil.

The US needs some way of importing oil. Ignore trade with the rest of the world and everything grinds to a halt, literally.

[Peter1x9]

16. If you think it's bad now...

just wait until the finalize the Indo-American FTA. The Indians will come over here by the millions.

Links to several news stories about this:
http://www.usindiafriendship.net/news/news.html

A portion of one of the stories:
While American banks and insurance companies can open as many branches as they wish in India, get into travel, hospitality, telecom and other service industries, Indian companies can render unhindered services in the US to American companies.

Moreover, Indian professionals like software engineers, accountants and doctors can take up jobs in America without worrying about H1B quotas.

Indeed, if the deal materialises, it could open the door to the vast US market for India's large pool of service professionals, particularly in the IT and health sectors, and boost business process outsourcing from the US to India.

[Deja Q]

18. Wow. The opposite happens with the same effect. Also, how's Pakistan?

Last I recall, they are at odds with India. Should India have another tantrum, Pakistan might respond. If Pakistan uses nukes, that won't bode well for India. (It won't bode well for corporate America, who'd see the war only as a disruption to their greed.)

With IT imploded in the US, I don't see many Indians coming here for that. But for the medical industry, I can see that happening.

Thanks for the web link. I'm appalled by the duplicity and disrespect of *. Both toward the Americans stupid enough to vote for him and for the Indians who don't see far enough outside their borders to realize how they are being used for petty reasons (and, as with so many people in the past, will be discarded the moment they're of no further use.)