This is one of the supposed benefits of the free market. If left alone, under normal conditions, what's supposed to happen is that badly ran, uncompetitive firms end up showing themselves the door, making room for new market competitors who may not be so badly managed. Don't fucking save them, especially don't advocate for saving them if you claim to love free markets.
The problem with free markets is they are incredibly unstable and create booms and busts and people don't like this so we get the worst of all worlds which is unfettered capitalism and no competition or failure weeding out poorly managed companies. Maybe free markets are just a shitty ideal?
Yes. The answer to that question is yes. Free market capitalism encourages cutthroat competition in which the only factor in any decision-making process is maximizing profits. Safety isn't a factor. Employee well-being isn't a factor. National security isn't a factor. The economy at large isn't a factor. Long term investments aren't even a factor. Line go up this quarter equals good quarter. Regulations ensure mandatory minimums for societal prosperity.
free markets are a shitty idea, but ive never seen one in real life before.
I think America would actually benefit from switching to a free market economy, instead of our current bullshit where our politicans are too spineless to tell companies like Boeing "sucks to suck" when they ask for yet another handout instead of doing any real work
Then they should be nationalized, because they've already got the benefits, but none of the downsides, while the public get none of the benefits, and all of the downsides... At this point "too big to fail" are essentially critical government infrastructure setup by wealthy criminals to steal directly from tax payers.
Historically I don't think that's what the term "free market" was referring to, although some people do use it that way now. As always, we need to remember that there are no normal conditions, and free markets aren't free. If you don't have anti-monopoly legislation, if you don't have anti-corruption legislation, then large corporations will win.
It is, afaik, the literal, actual, unironic definition of the fascist economic model. Basically, the public sector only really exists in the form of "private" companies that are tightly coupled to the government.
Look I'm fine if the govt wants to say a particular corporation is too big to fail. But trying to let that company remain private is not how too big to fail works. If you want a bailout, the govt owns your company, and the govt is obliged to maintain ownership for as long as it's deemed too big to fail...e.g. critical to national interests.
Personally I think all publicly traded companies should be partly owned by the people... Like sure you can have an IPO, and still make a zillion dollars... But society automatically owns a large enough share that you have to check with us before doing anything drastic
While I don't disagree with you in principle, this begs definitions of what "us" and "anything drastic" means, which could vary to such an extent as to prove whatever law you're proposing meaningless or to be so draconian as to stifle all technological progress.
To big to fail should mean splitting up the company. At the very least when bailed out. Intresstingly the US actually made a profit bailing out banks in the 2008 crisis.
If I remember it correctly, that "profit" was nominal, i.e. without including the devaluation of that money due to Inflation, much less doing the proper investment accounting (as the Finance types do) were profit is a yield above a risk free investment (which, curiously, is normally Treasuries) and if it's below that it's not a good investment and beyond this the risk of losing your money also determines if the yield is worth.
Pretty much by definition the yield wasn't worth it in helping the banks at the interest rate the Government got, as why nobody else was willing to lend them the money at that interest rate.
I'm so sick of companies pissing away all of their profit and money to make rich people richer then when the smallest problem hits it is our problem. We pay. Fuck them.
Looking at this (below) with some super sloppy math they have made in the last ten years 25 billion in profits and 5 billion in losses totally 20 billion in profits (give or take as my interest in totalling this accurately is zero). The fact that they used their money irresponsibly and didn't say for a raining day, or it's raining planes day, is not the tax payers that need to save them. I'm in my mid 30s, you know how many times I've seen extremely profitable and successful "too big to fail" businesses bailed out. Fuck the fucking fuckers and anyone who trys and correct my math.
Between 1998 and 2018, the plane manufacturer also manufactured a whopping $61.0 billion in stock buybacks, amounting to 81.8 percent of its profits. Add in dividends and Boeing's shareholders received 121 percent of its profits.
Stock buybacks should be illegal or at least heavily regulated. They're stealing money from their employees, putting their company in peril by not having cash on hand, and stunting innovation. Imagine if major companies had to put profit back into their company? Instead it's a game to see how much you can exploit the working class, how little you can innovate and still get by (it's easy when you have no competition), and gamble (after lobbying with minimal money) that your political plants will force the taxpayers you're exploiting to bail you out. It's pretty disgusting.
Stock buybacks aren't really the issue, if they didn't exist they'd just be paying dividends with the money instead. The real issue is the reckless pursuit of maximising shareholder payouts, particularly for too big to fail corps.
That would make a lot of sense ...until we're reminded that USA is a kleptocracy, masquerading under a thick coating of we the people, freedom!™, liberty and justice for alla select group of people. Then it becomes clear the obvious and only solution, is for the government to pump a couple billions into Boeing.
Maybe Boeing should have thought of that before making poor decisions. It should learn a little something called personal responsibility and if it goes broke, well, that'll be a shame. Anyway!
Can't wait to see another multi-billion dollar corporation get bailed out while I still don't have health insurance, and I'm still paying off credit card debt from during the Pandemic when the government gave people a measly $2400 over two years but handed out PPP loans and forgiveness to anyone that asked.
Fuck this country makes me ashamed to be a veteran.
Don't believe the homeless...many homeless people are not veterans. Many were just regular citizens like you and I who worked their asses off every day but then got screwed and into the streets.
Boeing isn’t the best example of a capitalist enterprise. It’s too big to fail. The US government is too dependent on it and the country depends on Boeing strategically.
Oww, poor litlle boeing, not having enough money :C
Maybe they would still have some, if they didn't pay hitmen, they probably don't come cheap.
Let 'em die. No, fine them even more, and lock up the management.
deprivatize the aerospace industry. imagine the boon to the American economy if these failing, debt-ridden, dysfunctional aerospace manufacturers and airlines were replaced by a massive jobs program with the goal of optimizing air travel safety, affordability, and access. we're a big country. we could massively benefit from an aeronautical empire that gives any person safe, enjoyable 30 dollar flights, coast to coast.
If any politician would run this on a platform I'd make a bingo game of the canned responses you'd see all over the "free thinker" side of social media.
Cramer loves broken clocks - he’s bought some this morning or if he hasn’t he’s wishing he had, just rolled up his sleeves and got to work on it - they’ve been on the line and off the line, two at a time, three at a time, and now all the guys on the phones on the floor are saying they missed it. Broken clocks are going one way folks, and that’s up
also get fucked. what needs to be saved is the people from your utter disregard for human life.
you should use the last bit of your money to fly your CEO and entire management on one of your shitty planes and watch them fly through whatever fucking hole inevitably opens up.
Have to laugh while dying a little inside when 'free market' people cry about banks, insurance companies, real estate, and other mega corps 'needing' bailouts.
Isn't that the essence of the free market? If companies suck shit, they die. The American people need a fucking bailout right now before another international corporation.
Exactly. Capitalists hate capitalism, because they have to compete or cheat or lose. They'd much prefer an un-free market, where they win even if they lose.
I guess it's time for them to break up the company and sell to others who can pick up the reins and rebuild. They made this bed. The shareholders have made their money for years and years at a cost of human lives as seen time and time again. The shareholders could always pay back the formerly ever increasing dividends they have reaped over the past 10 years if they want to bail out the company they own.
No more taxpayer bailouts for the ownership class.
Mmm, then they wouldn't have had the money to buy back their shares to boost the stock price. So no, your ideas would not pass muster at a board meeting.
There was an article recently that was clearly just PR about how they're not concerned being stuck up there because there's so much to do and the views are amazing and so on.
The might read this, so I am hoping they do make it safely back here. But yeah, wtf was that all about? They're fine! They are busy and have food for 3 months and such.
Then claw it back from the fraudulent CEO and their board of flunkees.
I believe several stocks are a complete grift and that CNBC, at the behest of whichever Hedge Fund/Market Maker greases them, is part of the disinformation dissemination scamming investors/swaying sentiment.
Fuck corporations! Think of the poor shareholders! Shareholders need their money back so that they can put more money into stable companies and force them to increase profits until they too are too big to fail.
Unfortunately, as someone screwed over by the Recession, I can assure you that that's not how it works. The executives get bonuses that they can use to buy up investments for cheap and everyone else gets pink slips.
You know, I caught a few minutes of his show. my grandparents were into it, I guess. Not that they ever made money off his tips, or anything. The reality is his show was a coke fueled investment-related infomercial. Like the shamwow guy, but shorter and bald-er
(in the 90's he gave an interview about how as a fund manager or whatever, he'd pay the press to run hit pieces, even. now he is the hit piece.)
Capitalism in on itself isn't bad, it can be the most efficient system for everyone to grow.
However
You need to have a solid set or rules in place that makes it work well for everyone. No monopolies, for (a simple) example, bit also if a small company does, there is bankruptcy, the the same needs to apply for a mega corporation. If a corporation is too big to fail, and require bail out then at least sack and replace the entire C suite, and upper management, no golden parachutes, no bonuses. Hell, if the company is so important that govt need to step in with billions, hold C suit personally responsible. If I fucked up and my company goed bankrupt, I can lose my house, why should a CEO get a bonus for doing the same thing but 100.000 times bigger and worse?