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> It seems to me that execs understand and take a calculated risk when they choose to do business in various parts of the world. If they cannot make this calcul
by zeroname 8y ago
> It seems to me that execs understand and take a calculated risk when they choose to do business in various parts of the world. If they cannot make this calculation, they should not be running a company.
There's an externality here, it's not just that one company, but all of its competitors that are losing out on these IP "appropriations". Then, let's say you're one of the companies that are able to "sell out", if you want to profit at all, you need to be the first to sell out. You can't rely on nobody selling out, therefore selling out isn't even bad management.
- mistermann 8y agoExcellent point. And not only that, but "execs understand and take a calculated risk when they choose to do business in various parts of the world" seems like a rather no-brainer question, but is actually incredibly complex. In this calculation, what variable(s) are being optimized for, and over what time frame? Transferring the majority of manufacturing overseas might be the best thing for everyone involved (which assumes we actually have the ability to accurately and honestly measure such a thing) in the short run, but maybe it isn't the best thing for everyone or even anyone in the medium to long term. Answering such questions is very, very difficult, but rarely do I even see anyone asking such questions. "Free trade is shown to increase GDP of all participating countries", which is a fact as far as I can tell, seems to be the limit of how deeply we want to think about these things, and suggestions that the world just might be a bit more complex than that usually elicits passionate, seemingly non-negotiable disagreement.