It's not about competition, folks...

It's not about competition, folks...

Is that supposed to be bad? I see an American multinational company wanting to sell 10 million computers. They're not giving them away. They'll sell to whoever will buy. It's business. Should they not do it? Brian

It's not about competition, folks...

RE: the tax stuff, I did see some stuff here on Kerry's web site.

Current tax laws allow American companies to defer paying taxes on income earned by their foreign subsidiaries until they bring it back to the United States. If they keep the money abroad, they avoid paying U.S. taxes entirely.

Kerry would require companies to pay taxes on their international income as they earn it rather than being allow to defer it. The new system would apply to profits earned in future years only, not retroactively.

He also would allow companies to defer taxes when they located a business in a foreign country that serves that nation's markets. A U.S. company seeking the tax break could open a car factory in India to sell cars in India, for example, but could not relocate abroad to sell cars back to the United States or Canada.

But that seems like it will only affect those companies with foreign subsidiaries, which is certainly not most of the businesses in the U.S. And you've got to watch the voodoo B.S. promises from all politicians, of course. My favorite one so far: Kerry says his plans will create "10 million jobs", but according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are only 8.4 million unemployed people in America (paragraph 2, sentence 1). So does that mean more work visas? :-) Brian

It's not about competition, folks...

"Working together, we can train one million teachers to integrate technology into lesson plans, outfit 100,000 schools with wireless communications and computing capabilities, and deploy 10 million computers in classrooms over the next five years in Southeast Asia," Craig Barrett, Intel's CEO

[David Abramowitz]

It's not about competition, folks...

I wish I did. My contacts are a bit unclear, except to say that the tax code provides such breaks. Evidently this is because there are many provisions that may be taken advantage of, and depending on the situation one company may take a tax credit while another takes a deduction. Apparantly there are several loopholes, and they run wide and deep. The full disclosure measures are still being hashed out. I hope to have something specific should anything turn into a "bill". Dave

It's not about competition, folks...

Susan said: "GM manufactures cars overseas and they actively ship IT jobs offshore. Now, if you prefer to make an American CEO rich rather than a German or Japanese one, fine." Well, actually, I've never purchased a GM car. I've only owned Chrysler and Ford products. Each and every one of my cars were manufactured on U.S. soil. Susan also said: "But buying a GM car doesn't help average Americans more than buying a Nissan or other so-called foreign car manufactured in the US." I'll have to disagree. The profits stay home and are reinvested in the business or employee salaries. Much of the profits in Japanese cars are use by Japanese companies to purchase U.S. land. Much of Hawaii, the Wilshire district in L.A. and many other cities is owned by Japanese corporations. Conversely, the Japanese government does not allow non-Japanese companies to purchase Japanese land. Also, taxes on the profits for Japanese manufacturers does not go to the U.S. coffers. chuck Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my employer.

[David Abramowitz]

It's not about competition, folks...

Chuck Ackerman wrote: Well, actually, I've never purchased a GM car. I've only owned Chrysler and Ford products. Each and every one of my cars were manufactured on U.S. soil. Are you sure about that. TTBOMK Chrysler maintains a plant in Windsor Ontario, and Ford has plants in Spain and Mexico. BTW, I recently learned that "The Simpsons" farms out much of the animation process to South Korea. Dave

It's not about competition, folks...

I like these ideas, David! Full disclosure. Do you have any specifics on the tax breaks that companies get? Brian

[cwscholbe@dstsystems.com]

It's not about competition, folks...

We vote with our dollars everytime we make a purchase. This does not mean that the competitor (that we did not buy from) will automatically go bankrupt. However, companies do go out of business because people don't buy their products. This is called competition. I agree that we should not judge companies soley based on a single news item and react irrationally. Yes, it is difficult to know whether a company has a philosophy that you want to support or not. However, when I receive "reliable" information (wherever that comes from) then I evaluate it and choose whether I want to buy from this company or not. If this is not part of your thought process....fine. I am not able to do this for each and every company, but I do the best I can. I too would like to keep as much of the profits, from my purchases, stay in the USA with US companies. I would also prefer that jobs stay in the USA. These are MY opinions.

It's not about competition, folks...

But, Chuck, we're mad at the injustices in the world and we want to protest! It's not about the competition, it's about us! :-) What's funny is that the article didn't even say the jobs were going offshore. If all 900 of those "1000" IT jobs were off-shorable, that would be amazing. And what of the 8,500 middle manager jobs that the article mentions are being eliminated? Is it "un-American" to get rid of those too, or is it just the IT jobs? Hmmm...If we boycott that store, I wonder where we'll go to buy our offshore-produced electronic goods? Brian

It's not about competition, folks...

I know VP level IT exec who got laid off in the last year, who just spent two weeks in India, and family members say he's got something cooking with Best Buy.

It's not about competition, folks...

Joe said: "About the only thing I do agree with is "buy with your conscience". Choose between a chain that is obviously willing to sacrifice American jobs for a few extra pennies on the share price, or some other competitor." This is silly. So, because Best Buy gets some press that isn't favorable we should switch over to Circuit City, or Good Guys, or Target? How do we know that those companies haven't done some atrocities much worse than Best Buy? Oh, of course, we didn't see it on a web site! Ok, I bet if I scour the web long enough I'll find some dirt on Circuit City. But, you know what? My life is too short to spend my time worrying about where NOT to shop. So, what I gather is this... If we see something we don't like in the news or on a web site about a company then we should immediately boycott. The only thing that will come of that is the promotion of dirty tactics by competitors. And, what if the news about Best Buy is incorrect? What if they were just floating the idea in a executive meeting and someone leaked out the information? No amount of denying the leaked information will deter the "boycotters" once their snowball is rolling down the hill. I'm all for boycotting those who violate the laws or illegally use the visa laws but I will NOT boycott them until they've been convicted of a crime. chuck Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my employer.

[nycsusan@hotmail.com]

It's not about competition, folks...

Chuck said, "... I have no idea if GM or Ford share my "values" and it's simply not important to me. I only know that when I buy a GM or Ford car the taxes on those profits stay in America. ... " Chuck, The CEO's profits and salary stay in the USA when you buy a GM car, but the average jobs don't. GM manufactures cars overseas and they actively ship IT jobs offshore. Now, if you prefer to make an American CEO rich rather than a German or Japanese one, fine. But buying a GM car doesn't help average Americans more than buying a Nissan or other so-called foreign car manufactured in the US.

It's not about competition, folks...

Kumar, You make me laugh. Do you really think the Best Buy CEO / President or the entire board of directors would allow a boycott to drive the company bankrupt? No, if a boycott impacted earnings, they would take a corrective action (example - bring jobs back to the uUA) instead of staying the course. Obviously, you're not a business person. Even if Best Buy did go bankrupt , that means their competition needs to hire people because their competition picked up a few billions dollars in extra business. Chris

[J.Pluta]

It's not about competition, folks...

Your mind works in mysterious ways, kumar. A boycott does not make a store go bankrupt (unless they continue to do what is being boycotted and EVERYBODY decides to stop doing business with them). A boycott is also a time-honored American tradition, hailing back to the Boston Tea Party. You might try reading a little history before trying to tell me what is or isn't American. And I don't know what YOUR agenda is, but mine, while it might be personal, is definitely not hidden. About the only thing I do agree with is "buy with your conscience". Choose between a chain that is obviously willing to sacrifice American jobs for a few extra pennies on the share price, or some other competitor. Easy choice for me! Joe

[ACT]

It's not about competition, folks...

Consumer's Doctrine: Buy at the Affordable Price, Acceptable Quality, and a Reliable Service/Support. Nowhere in the equation is the outsourcing issue. In fact product origin is always synonymous with Quality or Service/Support. It's a consumer perception based on experience. But, we're talking here of a retail store who is going to outsource 1000 jobs. Assuming the idea of a boycott will take off and a winner. Best Buy will go bankrupt and 50,000+ people will go unemployed and we don't care for these souls because they are not from I.T. What kind of mentality is this? Is this the American way? I'm sure the majority would rather take the lesser evil - not to boycott. Personally, I'm against outsourcing, but to boycott is not only disruptive, but also uncivilized. My advice, buy with your concience. Don't be swayed by evangelists with a hidden personal agenda.