Impact of Huge Companies

[Smurf]

What does everyone think of the enormous size of corporations these days? Is it actually a good thing? The world is getting so tied together that if a company sneezes in one country the whole world catches a cold. First off I'm thinking of the financial world in the US and the world crisis it set off which is far from over. The ties the large US financial companies had all over the world, affected systems all over the world even bringing some of them down. I realize it is not all business, poor governments are also to blame. But does that again have something to do with the amount control these big conglomerates have on them. That again goes back to the way Wall street got the rules relaxed in the name of free enterprise. Why did Canada survive so well? Because we kept a tighter leash on our financial institutions.

I believe the problems with huge companies has come to the fore front even more with the current hacking scandal in Britain.
Rupert Murdoch's huge conglomerate of companies are so powerful that they had direct ties with heads of government, Police Chiefs and anyone else in power. Is it any coincidence that many of these high ranking people inside and outside his companies are starting to resign? The British parliament now want to investigate whether or not he had too much control with his media empire which is also being investigated by the FBI in the US. What about the oil companies. They get called before congress, parliament and whomever else and that is the last we hear about it. Was that done just to look like they are doing something with no real effort whatsoever. The huge pharmaceutical companies seem to do as they wish. During the crisis we had to publically bail out banks, financial institutions, automobile companies etc because they were too large to allow them to fail. Is that actually a free enterprise system or in a true free enterprise system which is what these companies claim to want would they be allowed to fail. Is it just welfare for business, if you're big enough.

All these things make me wonder who is actually our government. I think it is the big corporations and their lobbyists.

[Queen K]

And the man who brought Murdoch down? Started the ball rolling: dead.

And who is going to hang for that? Anyone? Does anyone dare mess with huge corporations and their power? Has this man been made an example of in case any other employees get the notion to testify against their boss? Former boss if they are some of the 200 journalists now out of work?

Big Corporations=big power. Even life and death kind of power? What are the chances this death is never really explained?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011 ... andal.html

[Smurf]

Yes they say it is not suspicious, but you really have to wonder don't you. ot becomes an obcession with some of these people and they will stop at nothing to keep their power trip rolling. I just question whether all this power is a good thing.

[Queen K]

"They claim his death is not suspicious" but I have to ask, how police forces exist in the UK? Is the "they" the same "they" with top senior police members underfire and resigning, claiming that their intregity is still intact? Or Scotland Yard, oooh, they've been bitten too.

Do I wonder? Ya, I do.

[Smurf]

There's no doubt there are good and bad everywhere and it would seem that a number of questionables came to the table this time. I'm sure some are innocent, but I'm just as sure some are involved. Murdoch says with over 57,000 employees he can't keep track of them all and the people he trusted to do it have let him down. I can understand that. Does that give him a free ticket or is he still responsible. Isn't that why he is paid the big bucks. Ultimately the running of the company ends up on his lap. I suppose you could say the same thing about the police. But it seems in that case there was too much fraternizing. It all has a real bad smell to it and probably should have when it came to light a few years ago. I truly think it puts a bad light on big corporations.

[CJT84]

What does everyone think of the enormous size of corporations these days? Is it actually a good thing?
Yes and no. Yes as it allows global trade to flow much more smoothly, but no when you realize they only got so big because of government interference.

The world is getting so tied together that if a company sneezes in one country the whole world catches a cold. First off I'm thinking of the financial world in the US and the world crisis it set off which is far from over. The ties the large US financial companies had all over the world, affected systems all over the world even bringing some of them down.
It's not the US banks alone, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Barclays and BNP Paribas are as much to blame and more responsible for the current crisis in Europe than Citi or JP Morgan. IS the fiancial crisi over? No, it was postponed and made worse by the government TARP program and by the Fed.

I realize it is not all business, poor governments are also to blame. But does that again have something to do with the amount control these big conglomerates have on them. That again goes back to the way Wall street got the rules relaxed in the name of free enterprise. Why did Canada survive so well? Because we kept a tighter leash on our financial institutions.
Canada did well because there didn't exist an institution like Fannie or Freddy that allowed banks to pass of mortgages and securitize them for sale in the market. Big corporations rarely have much control over governments. Yes a big corporation leaving with 20000 employees can hurt an economy but it isn't the end of the world. Many countries work with transnationals, they aren't held captive by them. There are exceptions but they are very few.


I believe the problems with huge companies has come to the fore front even more with the current hacking scandal in Britain.
Rupert Murdoch's huge conglomerate of companies are so powerful that they had direct ties with heads of government, Police Chiefs and anyone else in power. Is it any coincidence that many of these high ranking people inside and outside his companies are starting to resign? The British parliament now want to investigate whether or not he had too much control with his media empire which is also being investigated by the FBI in the US.
Sure, you're describing a corruption of government, not of private corporations. Let's face it, those in government gave NotW access to things for their own political purposes. This couldn't have gotten as far as it did without a lot of cooperation from those in government.

What about the oil companies. They get called before congress, parliament and whomever else and that is the last we hear about it. Was that done just to look like they are doing something with no real effort whatsoever. The huge pharmaceutical companies seem to do as they wish.
You'd have to specify an issue regarding the oil companies and the pharma companies only get their way from the corruption of the FDA in the US. ie: the FDA consistently favours them and their patents over generic manufacturers.

During the crisis we had to publically bail out banks, financial institutions, automobile companies etc because they were too large to allow them to fail. Is that actually a free enterprise system or in a true free enterprise system which is what these companies claim to want would they be allowed to fail. Is it just welfare for business, if you're big enough.
You're right it's not free market at all. Banks and auto makers should have failed and restructured so we could get on with our lives. Just ask a bankruptcy trustee, would they advise you to take on more debt to pay for the debt you can't afford right now? No they wouldn't.

All these things make me wonder who is actually our government. I think it is the big corporations and their lobbyists.
Government still has far more power than lobbyists or big corporations. They wouldn't have to lobby them in the first place if they ha more control and power. The problem is the centralization of government power which leaves only a few people in government to be corrupt and makes it much easier for big firms to get their say before small ones. The solution would be decentralization of power and of spending. Give more spending power to the provinces and to the municipalities. Having to triple the size of their lobbyists and deal with many more people who are arguably far more accountable, would make lobbying harder and more expensive.

[Smurf]

CJT84 wrote:

Smurf wrote:

What does everyone think of the enormous size of corporations these days? Is it actually a good thing?
Yes and no. Yes as it allows global trade to flow much more smoothly, but no when you realize they only got so big because of government interference.

Please explain how government caused corporations to get huge. I would say it was a lust for power, greed.

The world is getting so tied together that if a company sneezes in one country the whole world catches a cold. First off I'm thinking of the financial world in the US and the world crisis it set off which is far from over. The ties the large US financial companies had all over the world, affected systems all over the world even bringing some of them down.
It's not the US banks alone, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Barclays and BNP Paribas are as much to blame and more responsible for the current crisis in Europe than Citi or JP Morgan. IS the financial crisis over? No, it was postponed and made worse by the government TARP program and by the Fed.


For sure other banks were involved, but much of that was by being globally tied to the US financial institutions and/or trying to produce the same sort of profit regardless of the methods or dangers. Trying to compete on as large a scale. At one time London was actually trying to take over from Wall street as the big boy on the block. Money and greed.


I realize it is not all business, poor governments are also to blame. But does that again have something to do with the amount control these big conglomerates have on them. That again goes back to the way Wall street got the rules relaxed in the name of free enterprise. Why did Canada survive so well? Because we kept a tighter leash on our financial institutions.
Canada did well because there didn't exist an institution like Fannie or Freddy that allowed banks to pass of mortgages and securitize them for sale in the market. Big corporations rarely have much control over governments. Yes a big corporation leaving with 20000 employees can hurt an economy but it isn't the end of the world. Many countries work with transnationals, they aren't held captive by them. There are exceptions but they are very few.

True, but it was not those two banks that created many of the problems. It was the other banks and financial institutions that stepped in and figured out how to use those systems to make huge profits. Big corporation have a tremendous amount of control over governments as proven by the bail outs. Their size alone gives them power. In most cases governments are held captive by them. They are forced to give them tax breaks, loans, you name it just to keep them in the country. Yes it is good for the country but it is unfair to smaller businesses and I believe if you check, small business actually provides the majority of jobs. In many cases big business are just there for big profits. How many small business actually make the owners huge profits, but do require a tremendous amount of work.


I believe the problems with huge companies has come to the fore front even more with the current hacking scandal in Britain.
Rupert Murdoch's huge conglomerate of companies are so powerful that they had direct ties with heads of government, Police Chiefs and anyone else in power. Is it any coincidence that many of these high ranking people inside and outside his companies are starting to resign? The British parliament now want to investigate whether or not he had too much control with his media empire which is also being investigated by the FBI in the US.
Sure, you're describing a corruption of government, not of private corporations. Let's face it, those in government gave NotW access to things for their own political purposes. This couldn't have gotten as far as it did without a lot of cooperation from those in government.


No I am saying the corruption is coming from big business and filtering into government. It's not Cameron inviting Murdoch to his summer home and on and on. It is Murdoch making friends with the government because it helps when it comes to push and shove. Both sides cooperated, but I would bet it was initiated by Murdoch, for his and his companies gain. Again I say that government cooperation was solicited by Murdoch. In other words he started it not the government. Part, not all of the governments cooperation came because of the power of Murdochs corporations. Especially the fact that he controlled so much of the British media. The government was almost forced to side with him.



What about the oil companies. They get called before congress, parliament and whomever else and that is the last we hear about it. Was that done just to look like they are doing something with no real effort whatsoever. The huge pharmaceutical companies seem to do as they wish.
You'd have to specify an issue regarding the oil companies and the pharma companies only get their way from the corruption of the FDA in the US. ie: the FDA consistently favours them and their patents over generic manufacturers.

Gas prices, that is what they were just called up in front of congress for. Then suddenly it just seemed to all get quiet. However prices have dropped in the US. And why do you think the FSA favours them. Because of the huge size of these companies, their huge donations to political campaigns. Yes the government is corrupt, but I am saying a lot of it is because the huge corporations are creating that corruption for their own gains. In most cases the government is not initiating it. That does not mean they are not 100% wrong in going along with it.

During the crisis we had to publicly bail out banks, financial institutions, automobile companies etc because they were too large to allow them to fail. Is that actually a free enterprise system or in a true free enterprise system which is what these companies claim to want would they be allowed to fail. Is it just welfare for business, if you're big enough.
You're right it's not free market at all. Banks and auto makers should have failed and restructured so we could get on with our lives. Just ask a bankruptcy trustee, would they advise you to take on more debt to pay for the debt you can't afford right now? No they wouldn't.

All these things make me wonder who is actually our government. I think it is the big corporations and their lobbyists. Government still has far more power than lobbyists or big corporations. They wouldn't have to lobby them in the first place if they ha more control and power. The problem is the centralization of government power which leaves only a few people in government to be corrupt and makes it much easier for big firms to get their say before small ones. The solution would be decentralization of power and of spending. Give more spending power to the provinces and to the municipalities. Having to triple the size of their lobbyists and deal with many more people who are arguably far more accountable, would make lobbying harder and more expensive.

I am really starting to wonder if government does have more power any longer. As corporations grow larger and larger they are gaining much more power. Many of the people in government have strong ties to these huge corporations. The states are a perfect example. Who are the rich, Kennedy's, Rockefellers, etc.. Who are the politicians? How can you help but have corruption at least to some extent. As corporations become larger and larger, those ties become more common and more and more corruption happens. Soon like in the case of Murdoch it extends across oceans, continents and on and on. That is my original thought. Are they becoming too big, too influential and is it a good thing?

You talk about power. What is power. I say it is money. Who has the money. The rich, the large corporations etc. The ones who have the money to have lawyers, accountants, advertising, the media and even politicians at their beckoning. As has been said many times, the government does not make money, they only receive it. The problem doesn't actually lie there but in the political parties themselves. They also don't make money, they get it from their supporters. So who actually has the power, the party or it's supporters. Once in power, who has the power the party or it's supporters. The larger the corporation, the larger it's support in one way or another, the more power it has. A person like Murdoch who controls so much media in multiple countries has a great deal of power. I believe he and his companies have too much power. Money, influence, call it what you may, they have too much power.

[peaceseeker]

"They claim his death is not suspicious" but I have to ask, how police forces exist in the UK? Is the "they" the same "they" with top senior police members underfire and resigning, claiming that their intregity is still intact? Or Scotland Yard, oooh, they've been bitten too.

Do I wonder? Ya, I do.

Me too, QK...me too.

Key phone hacking witness dead
Police determine "nothing suspicious" in 2 seconds - and with no investigation

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nOOKIVufas&feature=related[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nOOKIVufas

Silence is golden

Kind of reminds of the time Contra Cocaine reporter Gary Webb shot himself in the head - twice.

Or when pathologist and weapons expert David Kelly slashed his own wrists after blowing the whistle on UK government fraud in the run up to the Iraq War.

Danny Casolaro anyone?

Or what about Karl Rove's key IT man (and computer election fraud chief), Mike Connell, who died in a small plane crash after being ordered to testify?

Murdering witnesses - and getting away with it - a grand Anglo-American tradition.

http://www.brasschecktv.com/videos/murd ... -dead.html



Let's not forget Barry Jennings and what happened to him for speakin' the truth...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbbZE7c3a8Q&feature=related&feature=related[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbbZE7c3 ... re=related

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRaKHq2dfCI&feature=related[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRaKHq2dfCI