FS: Can we pass a law to punish companies for firing people? Europe has had such laws for years, but the main result is that businesses become extremely reluctant to hire people in the first place.
ME: The chilling effect simply has to be overridden by the opportuntity for making a
profit. The total cost of retaining an employee even in a small business can appear prohibitive. We don't punish companies in the US for firing, but we do make businesses pay unemployment insurance, match an employee's Social Security and Medicare deductions, maintain compliance with no small set of regulations to protect employees, even pay more into unemployment for laying people off.
The pressure on businesses to compete effectively and make solid profits invariably reflects on the investment in human resources any business is willing to make. By the same token, no one business can be everywhere. What Citibank leaves behind is invariably something another enterprising soul can turn into an advantage.
FS: (H)ow on earth can any President act to stop a corporation from doing both? We cannot
prove that one act had anything to do with the other if the employer chooses not to admit it; or if the employer tries to disguise the intent by separating the two actions over time.
ME: The solution doesn't have to be prescriptive. Economic incentives to invest in America should be motivation enough.
FS: If we tried to regulate the practice, then what is to prevent a holding company from re-investing the earnings of an employee-laden subsidiery into a competing start-up that never had many employees to begin with (and uses foreign services from the beginning), which then renders the employee-laden business unprofitable (and fit only for a complete shut-down)?
ME: Nothing. But markets usually respond to that kind of shell game much faster than anyone thinks; it's not a foolproof strategy. If it didn't, Beatrice would still be running the world.
FS: Any political action that makes America a less attractive place to run a business is only going to accelarate the melt-down. I am sick about the degradation of my once-sterling economic prospects; but I do not fool myself into thinking that I'll be able to do anything about it come November.
ME: I hear what you're saying; I just don't quite see it. My prospects have never looked better. Then again, I never wanted to work in a call center, correct appraisal paperwork, or do anything that could be done by anyone, anywhere. I've always looked for work where I'd be hard to replace, and opportunities where I could provide something people need. I saw lots of people shoot past me, financially speaking, during the tech bubble. In both directions. That's the life of a prospector, and always has been. I bet it was an engaging ride, though.
FS: In the meantime, all I can do is to try to cultivate my family relationships; because when I'm old I imagine that we're going to have to depend upon extended families living together to get by -- just like in the old days and in poor countries today.
ME: Or reinvent yourself. A fine American tradition.
[ February 10, 2004: Message edited by: Michael Ernest ]