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> The paths taken by Apple and Google manifest alternative answers to one of the main questions facing capitalism today: What should public companies do with al
by jhack 8y ago
> The paths taken by Apple and Google manifest alternative answers to one of the main questions facing capitalism today: What should public companies do with all of the money that they’re making? Even as corporations have brought in enormous profits, there has been a shortage of lucrative opportunities for investment and growth, creating surpluses of cash. This imbalance has resulted in the pileup of $2 trillion on corporate balance sheets.
Pay your employees.
- techslave 8y agoor more realistically, your investors (dividends).
- cs_advice 8y agoBetter to pay the workers. It's an absolute shame that Amazon it's making so much money and treating their workers like shit. > Unions who represent Amazon workers have characterized its work conditions as “draconian” and physically demanding to the point of causing injury. Francisco Hervias, a worker who protested on Black Friday in Madrid last month, said at the time that he nearly lost his hand on the job. https://gizmodo.com/amazon-workers-in-spain-and-germany-announce-strikes-ah-1830970868 https://gizmodo.com/amazon-workers-in-spain-and-germany-anno...
- lotsofpulp 8y agoInstead of targeting specific entities, the better way would be to introduce structural changes in a American society via federal laws mandating paid leave minimums and removal of non-monetary compensation like health insurance benefit. A reduction in supply of labor will lead to higher wages, at the same time providing people with less stress and more time to participate in their community.
- xs567 8y agoPay your taxes, you mean? https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/03/google-tax-haven-bermuda-netherlands https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/03/google-ta...
- albertop 8y agoLobby for a sane tax system that encourages re-investment.
- xs567 8y agoRe-investment - like into things like providing your employees with free food, a fancy mobile app for your canteen menus and free cooking lessons? Meanwhile ca. 850m people (1 in 8 of the world's population) are starving globally.
- whatshisface 8y agoThey aren't starving because of Google, they're starving because of the dysfunctional governments in those countries. Donating can make it worse because a sufficiently dysfunctional society can pervert anything.
- xs567 8y agoSorry, in which country does paying tax = 'donating'?
- whatshisface 8y agoGoogle isn't liable for very much taxation in Somalia...
- xs567 8y agoWith respect you're being pointlessly petty. The argument is not that Google should donate to starving people in countries in which it's not operative. The argument is that instead of further pampering it's extremely privileged workforce indirectly via reinvestment or directly via higher pay, it should contribute more back to the global society from which it profits by paying its taxes fairly. How can you argue aginst this when Google workers are collectively amongst the best remunerated in the world, Google is notorious for massive-scale tax avoidance and hundreds of millions of men, women and children around the globe are dying because they lack basic resources for life: Food, water and healthcare. Each to his or her own I guess.
- moedersmooiste 8y agoEmployees definitely deserve a bigger piece of the pie. Their share of company profits has been decreasing for decades.