Comment by overfeed
16 days ago
> If the tariffs remained in effect for three decades, or more, there may have been incentive to move
In 3 decades, the US won't be the biggest market for most products - sooner if the harebrained economic decisions somehow persist.
Capital knows no borders, and American companies will "do the needful" to maximize profits wherever they may be found.
<< Capital knows no borders
Those statements are offered as truism ( and they do sound true enough ),but are they anything more than a hopeful assertion? I won't go into too many details, but I think it is not exactly axiomatic. It may be have been 99% accurate in the post-world war new world order, but, needless to say, that has shifted.
We can argue over whether it is a temporary pit stop or a longer term change that is likely to remain its place, but 'capital knows no borders' has its place along other otherwise useful phrases such as 'bet you bottom dollar that tomorrow there'll be sun'. As in, sure, but it is more of an expression of our wants, not an if/then scenario.
> Those statements are offered as truism ( and they do sound true enough ),but are they anything more than a hopeful assertion?
For the US / Euro, yeah you can just digitally wire say $ 150 million no problem. You just can't physically fly out with a suitcase of $100 bills.
This is not true for something like China [1].
The counter-topic is usually Labor. You very much cannot just go to the US and work but you could from China invest in a US company. So Capital knows no borders while Labor does.
[1]: https://www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca/china-chine/control-cont...
China has capital controls. Chinese can’t just invest in the U.S. an unlimited amount.
> I won't go into too many details, but I think it is not exactly axiomatic.
The Panama papers, the Double Irish sandwich, and the US government pressuring the EU not to tax American tech companies all say otherwise. More prosaically, the average non-resident, non-American has a much easier time registering a Delaware LLC than attempting to get an American work visa.
> It may be have been 99% accurate in the post-world war new world order, but, needless to say, that has shifted.
Trump has proposed a green-card-inspired "Gold Card" for rich Russians^w investors to skip the immigration queue. Lot's of countries have investor visa with fewer hoops to jump than work visa. I don't see this changing any time soon. If you have the capital, and hint that you're interested in investing $1M+, most countries will roll out the red carpet for you.
> As in, sure, but it is more of an expression of our wants, not an if/then scenario.
To be clear I don't want labor to be more restricted than capital.
<< The Panama papers, the Double Irish sandwich, and the US government pressuring the EU not to tax American tech companies all say otherwise.
It is an interesting argument to make. Given current efforts to reshuffle existing system, those may no longer be available. Let me ask you a hypothetical instead: if those 'ways' are gone, is it automatically a given that new ones will emerge? If yes, why? If no, why?
<< Trump has proposed a green-card-inspired
I don't want to write too much of an obvious comment, but.. how is it different from existing pre-Trump green cards sold to interested parties ( with lower price tag, but I am not asking about the price )? Is the existence of the card proof that capital has no borders or of something else? Is it inherent? I am now genuinely curious about your internal world model.
4 replies →