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The rise of the corporate colossus is a giant problem

economist.com

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Re: The rise of the corporate colossus is a giant problem

#11

Post by hencq »

ashark wrote: post #4

> But better the grind of multilateral negotiation than moves such as the European Commission’s recent attempt to impose retrospective taxes on Apple in Ireland. Uh, isn't that "move" enforcement of the results of multilateral negotiation (the EU and its rules)? What exactly will or should happen when parties of these multilateral negotiations and agreements the column champions violate the rules? I'm guessing it'll…

> Uh, isn't that "move" enforcement of the results of multilateral negotiation (the EU and its rules)?

Well in that case, shouldn't it actually be Ireland that got fined instead of retroactively taxing Apple?

Re: The rise of the corporate colossus is a giant problem

#12

Post by distances »

> It means making it easier for consumers to move their data from one company to another

I think this would be absolutely brilliant. The ability to readily move data from one service provider to another would provide a much-needed boost for competition in the digital space.

I don't know how common it is, but at least in Finland one can move their mortgage from one bank to another if they get a better deal elsewhere [1]. Or, one can move their mobile phone subscription and keep the old number. I find these kinds of service transfer entitlements essential for efficient competition.

[1] Or technically: one can always pay their Euribor bound mortgage off without extra cost, and take a new mortgage from another bank.

Re: The rise of the corporate colossus is a giant problem

#13

Post by jessaustin »

hencq wrote: post #11
ashark wrote: post #4

> But better the grind of multilateral negotiation than moves such as the European Commission’s recent attempt to impose retrospective taxes on Apple in Ireland. Uh, isn't that "move" enforcement of the results of multilateral negotiation (the EU and its rules)? What exactly will or should happen when parties of these multilateral negotiations and agreements the column champions violate the rules? I'm guessing it'll…

> Uh, isn't that "move" enforcement of the results of multilateral negotiation (the EU and its rules)? Well in that case, shouldn't it actually be Ireland that got fined instead of retroactively taxing Apple?

Because Apple didn't pay the tax it owed to Ireland, Ireland should pay something? To whom, Apple? What could justify that?

Re: The rise of the corporate colossus is a giant problem

#14

Post by detaro »

jessaustin wrote: post #13
hencq wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Uh, isn't that "move" enforcement of the results of multilateral negotiation (the EU and its rules)? Well in that case, shouldn't it actually be Ireland that got fined instead of retroactively taxing Apple?

Because Apple didn't pay the tax it owed to Ireland, Ireland should pay something? To whom, Apple? What could justify that?

Ireland is the one (accused to be) violating treaties it signed, with the goal of getting an advantage over other signatories, so it is not unlogical that it could be fined in some way for doing so.

Re: The rise of the corporate colossus is a giant problem

#15

Post by DanBC »

jessaustin wrote: post #13
hencq wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Uh, isn't that "move" enforcement of the results of multilateral negotiation (the EU and its rules)? Well in that case, shouldn't it actually be Ireland that got fined instead of retroactively taxing Apple?

Because Apple didn't pay the tax it owed to Ireland, Ireland should pay something? To whom, Apple? What could justify that?

Ireland set the tax rate that Apple complied with. Ireland is accused of providing a state funding to Apple by setting that low rate.

(I didn't downvote you).

Re: The rise of the corporate colossus is a giant problem

#16

Post by IsaacL »

Spooky23 wrote: post #10

IMO, this problem is mostly a factor of the consolidation of finance. The roll up of banking makes it impossible for smaller enterprises to get traditional capital. We moved away from the old, boom/bust distributed banking model towards a weird form of command economy with a cartel of mega-banks, which are really just proxies for the government. People blame technology for the post-recession economy, but I think the…

Sarbanes-Oxley probably played a role as well. Successful startups now chase acquisition over IPO, which leads to the creation of huge empires (Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft) and few medium-sized players.

Re: The rise of the corporate colossus is a giant problem

#17

Post by vkou »

IsaacL wrote: post #16
Spooky23 wrote: post #10

IMO, this problem is mostly a factor of the consolidation of finance. The roll up of banking makes it impossible for smaller enterprises to get traditional capital. We moved away from the old, boom/bust distributed banking model towards a weird form of command economy with a cartel of mega-banks, which are really just proxies for the government. People blame technology for the post-recession economy, but I think the…

Sarbanes-Oxley probably played a role as well. Successful startups now chase acquisition over IPO, which leads to the creation of huge empires (Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft) and few medium-sized players.

Most business in the United States is not driven by Silicon Valley startups.

Re: The rise of the corporate colossus is a giant problem

#18

Post by sseagull »

forrestthewoods wrote: post #7

Growth is globalized. Global companies get a disproportionate share of growth. Therefore giants will become increasingly large relative to non-global entities. I'm not sure what the specific problems are. Which makes prescribing a fix impossible.

In my (uneducated) opinion, the specific problem is that the people, through their governments, lose control over these large, global entities that affect their daily lives. When they get this big, there's no way to tax them and no way to punish them for wrongdoing - they could just move to a friendlier country, use loopholes, etc. Of course, thanks to various trade agreements, they will still have access to our markets...

And the consumer can't always go elsewhere - there may be no viable competition, or that competition gets bought by the larger company for what is essentially pocket change.

Too big to fail = too big to control

Re: The rise of the corporate colossus is a giant problem

#19

Post by jsprogrammer »

distances wrote: post #12

> It means making it easier for consumers to move their data from one company to another I think this would be absolutely brilliant. The ability to readily move data from one service provider to another would provide a much-needed boost for competition in the digital space. I don't know how common it is, but at least in Finland one can move their mortgage from one bank to another if they get a better deal elsewhere […

What type of data are you wanting to move? Would you just want a huge movable block of space that you could mount somewhere?
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