The Global Economy and Corporate Greed

"There is only one thing in this world, and that is to keep acquiring money and more money, power and more power. All the rest is meaningless."

--Napoleon Bonaparte


There has been a massive shift over the last half century towards a global economy. Corporations in wealthy countries have many reasons for moving towards this kind of system. It is much easier to hide money, decrease or duck taxes, and bypass laws regarding wages and working conditions. Under the guise of 'free trade' these corporations have been guilty of outsourcing jobs that are the mainstay of individuals within their countries, and instead getting their labor from underdeveloped countries. They will pretend on the surface to be helping out the less fortunate countries, but instead set up 'sweat shops' and combine forced labor--often including children, ridiculously low pay, and unhealthy working conditions. All to increase profit.

Many American corporations base their operations outside of the US, even though they do most of their business, or sell their goods and services within the continental united states. They will set up shop in places like the Mariana Islands (a commonwealth in political union with the US) , and can actually put 'Made In USA' on products made there. Corporations will also often have multiple 'multi-national' companies that they have a controlling interest in that allow them to create tax shelters, hide debt, and create the illusion of growth or profit.

International banks have made it simpler for corporations to keep transactions off the books, and hide large amounts of money, as well as making it easier to continue their corruption. There have been attempts to try to regulate these banks, but all have met with failure. The insatiable greed, and complete lack of morals that the CEO's of these large corporate entities seem quite impossible to overcome.

Aside from the immediate effects on workers in foreign countries, they also face serious future problems in the form of air and water pollution. Since most of these underdeveloped countries do not have laws banning pollution, the corporations have yet another incentive to move their industrial facilities out of the US, and even after including the cost of shipping their goods, they can still make massive profits due to not having anyone monitoring the effects that production has on the environment.

US Corporations also take advantage of the instability of foreign countries, and will combine their own efforts, along with the US government in the form of lobbying, to make sure that the leaders of these countries do not stand in the way of their profits. This includes, but is not limited to: installing dictators who will allow the corporations to run unfettered, influencing the outcome of elections to make sure that the outcome works in their favor, and assasinating political figures who attempt to stand up to them.

The only solution that I see to curb these abuses by corporations would be to implement some form of regulation that takes all of these items into account. The first step would have to be the willingness of individuals within the US and other wealthy countries to forego their cheap shiny new toys and pay the real cost for things that they actually need. Since this isn't going to happen anytime soon, at least not voluntarily, it will need to be enforced. The current administration is too beholden to these corporations (especially oil) to be of any use in attempting to rectify the situation, and even after it is replaced, it is going to take hard work on the part of Americans, as well as those in other countries, both developed and not, to make a difference.

Next time: Freedom of the Press?