May 16, 2008 1:53

How to make America grow again: Lure European corporate HQs here

From today's Volkskrant (translation mine):

AMSTERDAM - Top executives of Dutch multinationals are threatening to move their headquarters abroad if they keep getting criticized over their salaries. They feel insulted and want more appreciation for their work....

The former chairman of insurer Aegon, Kees Storm ... is very outspoken about the departure of headquarters. ‘If Aegon moves its headquarters with a hundred people to Baltimore, you'll see how quickly Dutch journalists will forget about the company. Sure, they'll look at the annual report for a couple years, but after that there'll be no more complaining about salaries. ... Headquarters, love them or lose them. They say it won't happen: I predict that it will happen."

So there you have it: The perfect economic development strategy for 21st century America. Bring your HQ to Baltimore (or Chicago, or Seattle, or New York), and we won't complain (at least not much) about how much money your CEO makes.

Sphere Related Blogs & Articles

|

May 16, 2008 10:29

In print: Presidents and their economic policies (and their cardigans)

Okay, so that cover story I was whining about yesterday is now online. It begins:

In the waning minutes of his only TV debate with Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter in 1980, Ronald Reagan looked straight into the camera and asked, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?"

It was a defining question of the campaign — and of late 20th century American politics. It was also pretty easy to answer. The "misery index," a then popular measure that added the unemployment rate to the inflation rate, had skyrocketed during Carter's tenure. Taxes had risen sharply. There were other issues on voters' minds, like the Iranian hostage crisis and those dang cardigans Carter used to wear. But the economy was crucial to Reagan's victory. After taking office, he responded by ushering in a new era in economic policy — cutting tax rates, slashing regulation and tirelessly preaching the gospel that individual Americans were better suited to make economic decisions than bureaucrats in Washington were.

This election year, the economy is again at the forefront of voters' minds. The misery index is no longer the problem; at 9% and change, it's miles below the 20% of late 1980. But Americans have a new menu of economic woes — among them a real estate crash, a credit crisis, a broken health-care system and nagging job insecurity. Poll after poll shows a vast majority convinced that the economy and the country are headed in the wrong direction. Read more.

Sphere Related Blogs & Articles

|