"jakdedert" wrote in message
...

be anybody in the US ready and waiting to take up the slack in lost
jobs, that would result? Setting aside the 'exploitation' arguments that
immediately get thrown into the arena when you start talking foreign
manufacturing, are American and European companies doing a bad thing
by investing in those 'third world' countries, and would the inhabitants
be
better off, if the manufacturing companies were not there giving them
work.

Yes, they are doing a bad thing. US companies are not obliged to give people
in other countries work. Why should American workers suffer to benefit
someone else?


It is fundamentally immoral, based on the assumptions underlying
the creation of limited-liability corporations. I'll explain it, if you
want.

I think you'd better explain that. Fundamentally immoral?

Here we go with another major argument.

Incorporated businesses have a privilege not granted to individuals --
limited liability. In general, the people who incorporate are not liable for
more than the money they initially invest in the business. This is not true
of unincorporated individuals, who are responsible for all debts their
businesses incur.

Why are corporations granted that privilege? The idea is to encourage the
creation of large or risky businesses that would not be possible or
practical if the people investing were responsible for the business's debts.
(Think about this before you rush to object.)

Large or risky businesses are potentially a benefit to society, right? So
the ultimate purpose of limited-liability corporations is to benefit
society, not to benefit the investors. The investors therefore have an
obligation to society in return for the economic privileges they receive.

One of these obligations is to employ people in the business's country, not
send jobs overseas. They are also obliged to pay taxes, just as individuals
do. (I no longer buy Stanley products, after they incorporated overseas to
avoid American taxes. Wouldn't it be great if _individuals_ could do that?)

This is ALL I will say on this subject. I will not get into further
discussion. If you think that businesses exist for no other reason than to
make a profit for their stockholders, that they have no social or moral
obligations to the societies which permit their creation and give them
special rights... What can I say?