5 ms·

Apple could buy Greece, become a government and exempt itself from income taxes for the next 10,000 years! (And replace apple symbol with olive too) >> ...and

by gesman 11y ago

Apple could buy Greece, become a government and exempt itself from income taxes for the next 10,000 years! (And replace apple symbol with olive too) >> ...and the American companies will keep accumulating cash they don't know how to spend. Not too many US companies are having this problem though.

drzaiusapelord 11y ago
>and exempt itself from income taxes for the next 10,000 years! Greece is an unsustainable welfare state full of tax fraud where the government is the largest employer. If Apple "buys it" (partners with the current government for some kind of super sweetheart deal) and cannot send out those monthly public sector checks then a lot of angry hot heads with machine guns will be its biggest problem, not a cool reception to the Apple Watch. Even if they cut a modest low tax deal, the EU would balk at a unilateral Greek deal cutting their tax revenues. At most Greece could offer Apple a low tax haven for domestic sales, but considering how small Greece's economy is, it would be financially stupid in both the short and long run to do this. As a Greek-American and Greek landowner, I'd prefer the Greeks stop fucking up and get fiscally responsible for once instead of courting corporations or other nations to take care of them. I don't want the ancient lands of my ancestors sold off for some short-term cash relief. Nor do I want it to become some Cayman Islands-like tax shelter that will isolate it economically and become the plaything of the American super-rich. I don't think the author of this piece remotely understands how incredibly stubborn and patriotic the average Greek citizen is. Greeks have lost their autonomy more than a few times in history. They aren't itching to lose it again. Saying, "You should let Apple buy you," in Athens would probably lead to a punch in the face fairly quickly for those reasons as well as the general anti-corporate attitude the largely leftist Greek population subscribes to. The American love of mega-corporations and super successful CEOs just doesn't translate there.
- aikah 11y ago
  > or other nations to take care of them As a greek you should know that when the EU is bailing out Greece, they are bailing out European banks, not Greece. If Greece fails, the EU banks that are exposed to the Greek debt will fail too. EU will throw as much money at the problem as it needs to save EU banks, especially french , english and german banks that are over exposed to Greek debt. Because otherwise it will be the 2008 crisis x10 in Europe, and possibly the end of EU. Not that I would miss it though. But you can't have the same money without sharing risk. And if for Greece it means robbing your land and selling it, they will. There is no escape anyway, drastic measures WILL be taken, one way or the other.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
- 7_7 11y ago
  > Saying, "You should let Apple buy you," in Athens would probably lead to a punch in the face fairly quickly That is what I believe, and hope, would happen not only in Athens but everywhere. Although on a second thought, fanboys of any kind or perhaps most of the new generation would simply not care. > anti-corporate attitude the largely leftist Greek population subscribes to I believe this is not the case. For years Greeks would vote for right wing parties and the one left wing on the outside but really right wing in disguise one. I agree about the general anti-corporate attitude though.
- tajen 11y ago
  > full of tax fraud How much is the total tax burden in Greece? That may have a strong impact on the fraud... In my country (France), compound tax/cost of running a business is about 68% in money and 15% of employee time. It is broken down as followes: 20% VAT, 46% various compulsory insurances and pensions (which may or may not cover your situation, hence the regular strikes), 15% income tax, 3% housing tax, and a myriad of compulsory accountants and administrative burden. I simply don't figure why there isn't more fraud.
bane 11y ago
> (And replace apple symbol with olive too) And rename themselves 'Olivetti" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivetti https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivetti
viggity 11y ago
Couldn't find any super recent numbers, but as of 2012, US companies were sitting on $2.2 Trillion http://fortune.com/2012/06/06/new-study-says-2-trillion-corporate-cash-hoard-not-obamas-fault/ http://fortune.com/2012/06/06/new-study-says-2-trillion-corp...
- peeters 11y ago
  The article has numbers. > Non-financial American firms hold $1.73 trillion in cash (...), and $1.1 trillion of that belongs to the 50 biggest companies Yes, American companies hold a lot of cash, but almost all of it is concentrated in the relatively few huge companies.

by gesman 11y ago

drzaiusapelord 11y ago

>and exempt itself from income taxes for the next 10,000 years! Greece is an unsustainable welfare state full of tax fraud where the government is the largest employer. If Apple "buys it" (partners with the current government for some kind of super sweetheart deal) and cannot send out those monthly public sector checks then a lot of angry hot heads with machine guns will be its biggest problem, not a cool reception to the Apple Watch. Even if they cut a modest low tax deal, the EU would balk at a unilateral Greek deal cutting their tax revenues. At most Greece could offer Apple a low tax haven for domestic sales, but considering how small Greece's economy is, it would be financially stupid in both the short and long run to do this. As a Greek-American and Greek landowner, I'd prefer the Greeks stop fucking up and get fiscally responsible for once instead of courting corporations or other nations to take care of them. I don't want the ancient lands of my ancestors sold off for some short-term cash relief. Nor do I want it to become some Cayman Islands-like tax shelter that will isolate it economically and become the plaything of the American super-rich. I don't think the author of this piece remotely understands how incredibly stubborn and patriotic the average Greek citizen is. Greeks have lost their autonomy more than a few times in history. They aren't itching to lose it again. Saying, "You should let Apple buy you," in Athens would probably lead to a punch in the face fairly quickly for those reasons as well as the general anti-corporate attitude the largely leftist Greek population subscribes to. The American love of mega-corporations and super successful CEOs just doesn't translate there.

aikah 11y ago
> or other nations to take care of them As a greek you should know that when the EU is bailing out Greece, they are bailing out European banks, not Greece. If Greece fails, the EU banks that are exposed to the Greek debt will fail too. EU will throw as much money at the problem as it needs to save EU banks, especially french , english and german banks that are over exposed to Greek debt. Because otherwise it will be the 2008 crisis x10 in Europe, and possibly the end of EU. Not that I would miss it though. But you can't have the same money without sharing risk. And if for Greece it means robbing your land and selling it, they will. There is no escape anyway, drastic measures WILL be taken, one way or the other.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
7_7 11y ago
> Saying, "You should let Apple buy you," in Athens would probably lead to a punch in the face fairly quickly That is what I believe, and hope, would happen not only in Athens but everywhere. Although on a second thought, fanboys of any kind or perhaps most of the new generation would simply not care. > anti-corporate attitude the largely leftist Greek population subscribes to I believe this is not the case. For years Greeks would vote for right wing parties and the one left wing on the outside but really right wing in disguise one. I agree about the general anti-corporate attitude though.
tajen 11y ago
> full of tax fraud How much is the total tax burden in Greece? That may have a strong impact on the fraud... In my country (France), compound tax/cost of running a business is about 68% in money and 15% of employee time. It is broken down as followes: 20% VAT, 46% various compulsory insurances and pensions (which may or may not cover your situation, hence the regular strikes), 15% income tax, 3% housing tax, and a myriad of compulsory accountants and administrative burden. I simply don't figure why there isn't more fraud.

bane 11y ago

> (And replace apple symbol with olive too) And rename themselves 'Olivetti" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivetti https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivetti

viggity 11y ago

Couldn't find any super recent numbers, but as of 2012, US companies were sitting on $2.2 Trillion http://fortune.com/2012/06/06/new-study-says-2-trillion-corporate-cash-hoard-not-obamas-fault/ http://fortune.com/2012/06/06/new-study-says-2-trillion-corp...

peeters 11y ago
The article has numbers. > Non-financial American firms hold $1.73 trillion in cash (...), and $1.1 trillion of that belongs to the 50 biggest companies Yes, American companies hold a lot of cash, but almost all of it is concentrated in the relatively few huge companies.