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Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

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Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#141

Post by killtimeatwork »

oblio wrote: post #111
jopsen wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are those supermarkets really all that French or Belgian anymore? In practice, many large companies are owned by investors from all over the world looking for diversification.

The top management for sure is French/German/Belgian. At least big chunks of it. And the owners (individuals/companies) are French/German/Belgian. If push comes to shove, they will for sure prioritize French/German/Belgian interests. Can't really blame them but strategically it's not a position you want to be in, looking at it from the other side.

Yep. The story about large corporations being totally nationeless is a pure fantasy. For example, just a couple years ago Fiat-Chrystler decided to move production from one of its best factories in Poland to one of its worst (in terms of quality and costs per unit), located in Italy. It made zero sense for the business and was only made as a favor to Italian politicians.

In more general sense, all global companies have some originating country and most of them keep the HQ and most of the high-paying jobs there. They expand to other countries mostly as a cost-saving measure and they have zero loyalty to them, while they have a lot of loyalty to the mothership.

Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#142

Post by viro »

pietrovismara wrote: post #134
Blackstone4 wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The way you phrase it, makes it sound like theft...surely, they have to buy the assets and that goes to the owner...the owner then can chose to re-invest locally if they choose to...the capital doesnt just disappear...

> the owner then can chose to re-invest locally if they choose to Only at the conditions imposed by the IMF. Usually that means the state has to steer away from anything that could be profitable and focus only on what is not palatable to foreign capital. It also means states can't apply import taxes, thus making their industries instantly obsolete. It's pretty much a huge transfer of wealth from inside to outside.

> Only at the conditions imposed by the IMF. Usually that means the state has to steer away from anything that could be profitable and focus only on what is not palatable to foreign capital.

Im going to need a direct example please

Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#143

Post by [deleted] »

throwbacktictac wrote: post #131
audunw wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really think China is making a huge mistake actually. See how TSMC (Taiwan) and Samsung are free to buy ASMLs EUV machines, while China is blocked. Part of that is due to their rampant IP theft. Why sell machines to China if they're just going to copy them? China also messed up big time by enforcing their 1 child policy, and taking so long to open up and industrialize. They're far behind economically compared to wh…

I think it's healthy to have a diverse set of mid and upper market companies. Chinese companies will ultimately buy their way into up market businesses. One antidote that I can readily think of is the acquisition of the street wear company Bape buy a the Chinese/Hong Kong manufacturer I.T Group. Forbes magazine is another company that was acquired by a Chinese company. Furthermore, Hong Kong has some international ap…

[deleted]

Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#144

Post by pietrovismara »

viro wrote: post #142
pietrovismara wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the owner then can chose to re-invest locally if they choose to Only at the conditions imposed by the IMF. Usually that means the state has to steer away from anything that could be profitable and focus only on what is not palatable to foreign capital. It also means states can't apply import taxes, thus making their industries instantly obsolete. It's pretty much a huge transfer of wealth from inside to outside.

> Only at the conditions imposed by the IMF. Usually that means the state has to steer away from anything that could be profitable and focus only on what is not palatable to foreign capital. Im going to need a direct example please

Just check the IMF page on "Conditionality"[0]. Check the "Prior actions" sections and see "Elimination of price controls" there.

Also see this video[1] about Vietnam, around halfway through it explains pretty well how it works.

Edit: I realize now you asked about the "forced privatization of industries" sentence. That's thoroughly stressed accross all IMF literature, and you can see it happen in pretty much every country that takes IMF "aid".

-[0]: https://www.imf.org/en/About/Factsheets/Sheets/2016/08/02/21...

-[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMubOw5H-yo

Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#145

Post by brutus1213 »

yorwba wrote: post #125
audunw wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really think China is making a huge mistake actually. See how TSMC (Taiwan) and Samsung are free to buy ASMLs EUV machines, while China is blocked. Part of that is due to their rampant IP theft. Why sell machines to China if they're just going to copy them? China also messed up big time by enforcing their 1 child policy, and taking so long to open up and industrialize. They're far behind economically compared to wh…

> See how TSMC (Taiwan) and Samsung are free to buy ASMLs EUV machines, while China is blocked. Part of that is due to their rampant IP theft. Why sell machines to China if they're just going to copy them? ASML's machines aren't something you can just copy by buying one of them. (You'd do better by hiring ex-ASML engineers to teach you how to do it.) And ASML would've sold their EUV equipment (just as they continue t…

I think people who think China can be contained are being naive. As an academic, I am extremely impressed with the improvement in scientific publications in CS out of China of late. In 10 years, they are now killing it on a consistent basis (personal anecdote: a paper from Tsinghua or Shanghai Jiao Tong on average is as good as one from Berkeley, Stanford or MIT). I have a feeling it has to do with the reality that Chinese nationals (or people with some ethnic/language connection) are an integral part of cutting edge science globally. It is extremely do-able to entice these individuals back. Western countries have severely under invested in research .. even back when I got my PhD (like a decade ago), my job packages were far superior in Asia (not just China) than in the West.

I think in 5G, some top level planners in the West have realized the error of their ways, and are investing heavily in basic research. I think it is too late.

Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#146

Post by pjmlp »

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #118
pjmlp wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To the point that when I traveled around a couple of years ago along the coast, most people I met along the way seemed to be more confortable speaking German than English.

Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian/Kosovar familiarity with German is something that dates from the era of Yugoslavia, it has little to do with corporate sway in the modern EU. Yugoslavia 1) allowed its people to freely work in the West, and many people chose to go to West Germany, and 2) Yugoslavia built up extensive tourist infrastructure in Croatia and Montenegro that drew predominantly German-speaking holidaymakers (and no…

Yeah this was about 10 years ago. Thanks for the overview.

Althought I did see enough Lidl and Aldi around.

Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#147

Post by luxuryballs »

jariel wrote: post #28
ClumsyPilot wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>"we should allow developing countries" Not to pick on you, but I often hear this frasing in the 'first world' and surely you dont 'allow' or 'disallow' internal policies to an sovereign nation? It sounds like a Freudianslip or something, the reality is that its easy to bully or bribe officials in developing nations.

WTO has rules, as do nations with agreements in place. 'Allow' implies some degree of forgiveness or allowance of entity on the other side of the table. In this case, Ghana may probably face trade sanction/scrutiny for their protectionism. It will have to play out in terms of other agreements.

collusion for thee but not for me

Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#148

Post by Shadonototro »

tyingq wrote: post #60

"With Ghana’s move towards processing its own cocoa, the world, and not just Switzerland, will experience a massive shortage since Ghana is responsible for about 45% of the world’s cocoa." That seems like bigger news than the headline.

they'll move production elsewhere, problem solved

why people do not think nowadays?

Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#149

Post by amelius »

tyingq wrote: post #60

"With Ghana’s move towards processing its own cocoa, the world, and not just Switzerland, will experience a massive shortage since Ghana is responsible for about 45% of the world’s cocoa." That seems like bigger news than the headline.

They could also ask Switzerland to pay 30% of their revenue, similar to what Apple does.

Re: Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland

#150

Post by [deleted] »

killtimeatwork wrote: post #87
oblio wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So the book argues that when developing countries are pressured into free trade agreements This should have been obvious since the Opium Wars and the Opening of Japan (see Commodore Matthew Perry). All developed countries are pro free trade for markets where they are strong and fiercely protectionist where they are not (or they consider those markets strategic priorities). I'm from Romania. Romania joined the EU in…

That's where China was smart I guess. They didn't sign any treaty which forced them into free trade or IP protection, but instead slowly allowed their industries to build up via IP theft and strong protectionism. Now they have giant companies on par with the West's. Whereas everyone who joined the EU in the decade of 2000 (and the Washington Consensus before that in the nineties) is now a pawn of the Western capital…

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