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How Worried is “Big Business” About the Monster They’ve Created?

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For nearly fifty years, the Corporate Right has been waging a war against government.  It makes sense actually.  The only legal duty that they owe is to their share holders. And if they can pay no taxes for years and years, then, well, that’s what they should do.  It’s a problem of the corporate form generally.

Now, on the other hand, the tech industry has always been a little bit different.  They rely heavily on a well-educated work force (and more than a few H1B visas) and infrastructure.  

Carl Guardino, the president and chief executive officer of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, gave unqualified support to Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget and tax extension plan Tuesday at the Capitol, urging legislators to quickly come to an agreement to close the $26.6 billion deficit.

Guardino, SunPower CEO Tom Werner and Varian Medical Systems CEO Tim Guertin met with Brown at his office Tuesday. Later, Brown met with leaders of the Hispanic and Black chambers of commerce and the California Small Business Association as he continues to try to rally support among business leaders.

“What we’re urging (legislators) to do is make a strong deal that’s true to your principles but calls for compromise and consensus,” Guardino said. “Silicon Valley knows the art of the deal. There is a deal here.”(MediaNews)

So, sure tech companies may be more worried about a government collapse than your, say, oil company.  However, at some level, you would think it would raise a more basic concern about a government that is able to preserve property rights, allow for a free flow of commerce, and provide for general security.  After all, we need to have a fairly large of skilled labor if we are really going to rely on an “information economy.”  

And, there are other business groups that are seeing this.  Of course, they are still aiming for “pension reform” and slicing the knees out from under public employees, but they see we can’t simply revert completely cease funding the government.

However, this all depends on a lot of “rational actors” in an area where there don’t always seem to be enough of those types.

8 thoughts on “How Worried is “Big Business” About the Monster They’ve Created?”

  1. I don’t understand how this can be?

    California has been repeatedly rated as one of the top 5 highest business tax rate states in the nation.  And the Democrats have been in solid control of the governor’s house, senate and legislature for at least the past five years.

    They have a solid majority now and I can’t imagine them giving any concessions to big business.

    However the story in Wisconsin, Idaho and Ohio is quite different and it might be tempting for our tech businesses to run over there and thus add to California’s high unemployment  

  3. The august oracles at JibJab did a piece years ago called “Big Box Store.” In it, a customer lamented that the big box store pushed his company so hard for lower prices that they offshored all their jobs–including his. Now the only job he could get was at the big box store. But they pay so little, he can’t afford to shop there anymore.

    It was prophetic. As people lose their homes and paychecks, they can no longer pay the taxes that paid for our infrastructure. People who get new jobs are typically losing 20-50% of their income. Corporations pay little or nothing–down from 80% of federal revenues when I was a kid, to 20% recently, and even less now. So, not only can we not repair and maintain the infrastructure businesses rely on, but we can’t upgrade the things we need to stay competitive.

    Businesses will lose their customers. They will not have access to the modern infrastructure they need to operate. And they will not have access to the educated workforce they need to innovate.

    In short, business that look any further ahead than next week should be very, very worried. The Goldman Sach report that opined that the GOP federal budget proposals would stifle job creation was just the tip of the iceberg. But it was also a clear indication that some of them see the dangers.

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