prole Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 The distinction between corporation and state becomes blurrier every day... Obama Picks G.E. Chief for Board as Focus Turns to Jobs NYT 1/21/11 SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — President Obama is traveling here on Friday to name Jeffrey R. Immelt to run his outside panel of economic advisers, succeeding Paul A. Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman, who is stepping down, the White House said. Mr. Immelt is chairman and chief executive of General Electric, the giant conglomerate with deep roots in this somewhat battered industrial city near Albany... ...Asked about his new role during a conference call on G.E.’s earnings, Mr. Immelt said the advisory position would give him a chance to contribute to issues in the broader economy, with a focus on competitiveness and jobs. “I am honored to serve,” he said. Mr. Immelt said that his commitment to G.E. would not change. “This is my passion,” he said of G.E. “I am committed. I am a hard worker. I am focused on the company.”... ...He was with Mr. Obama when the president traveled to India in November. During a stop in Mumbai, the White House announced a string of business deals between India and American companies, including a $750 million order from India’s Reliance Power for steam turbines manufactured by General Electric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 GE suffered it's own 'virtual stock crash' in 08 - back to 1996 levels. They've rebounded to 1998 levels. There was serious talk of GE collapsing entirely. I'd say Immelt would have soon needed another job anyway.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Obama should have picked fresher blood from new tech rather than this rather calcified choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbw1966 Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Skilling may be looking for a job soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billcoe Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Obama should have picked fresher blood from new tech rather than this rather calcified choice. Hmmm, I take it he's wised up and stopped responding to your many calls, letters and e-mails on what a yutz he is for not doing things your way and ignoring your many stellar recommendations on how to better run the country to him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Skilling may be looking for a job soon he's trying to beat 19 other counts of fraud because of some gray wording on the most insignificant one. It's really best to be non-benign sociopaths behind bars, pretty much for the duration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prole Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 GE suffered it's own 'virtual stock crash' in 08 - back to 1996 levels. They've rebounded to 1998 levels. There was serious talk of GE collapsing entirely. I'd say Immelt would have soon needed another job anyway.... Given that everyone seems fine with the obvious conflict of interest here, I'd say GE's future looks fairly bright. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayB Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Would you feel better if establishing politically favored cartels to allocate resources was the nation's official policy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prole Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 As opposed to its unofficial policy? Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Conway Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Would you feel better if establishing politically favored cartels to allocate resources was the nation's official policy? It is the nations official policy as the appointment of Immelt shows Jeffrey Immelt. G.E. is usually thought of as an industrial corporation, but it is also a big bank in disguise. In recent years, its G.E. Finance arm has provided more than half of its revenues. In November, 2008, at the height of the financial crisis, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation agreed to guarantee bonds issued by G.E. Capital, and in the following seven months the firm issued almost $90 billion worth of debt that was backed by U.S. taxpayers. Without this taxpayer guarantee, which wasn’t highly publicized at the time, G.E. would have struggled to roll over its debts and could even have gone under. Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2011/01/volcker-immelt.html#ixzz1BimJLNsF The nice thing about Official national champions is the quid pro quo would obligate them to keep technology and jobs within the nation; GE is fucking their future shipping tech to China. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Would you feel better if establishing politically favored cartels to allocate resources was the nation's official policy? What does that even mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prole Posted January 22, 2011 Author Share Posted January 22, 2011 UNCLE SUGAR!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_b Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Would you feel better if establishing politically favored cartels to allocate resources was the nation's official policy? Cartels? like the American people who want jobs and a manufacturing policy instead of more "free trade" outsourcing like Immelt is sure to deliver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 GE serves large energy and transportation markets. If the new guy knows anything about them, that would be a point in his favor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_b Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 I don't doubt he is knowledgeable at what he does but Americans don't want another "free trader" who is going to outsource more jobs. GE and Immel have outsourced zillions of jobs until now. Obama is a classic 3rd way neoliberal who'll pursue deregulation and outsourcing despite his populist rhetoric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murraysovereign Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 So the way I read the original story, this guy from GE is going to be the chair of an advisory committee, right? The panel has absolutely no legislative authority, no regulatory authority, no enforcement authority, in fact it has absolutely no authority at all on anything at all. So who cares? He hasn't been handed the keys to the treasury, he's chairing an advisory panel. These panels are little more than political window dressing, allowing those in positions of actual power to say "See - we're working on the problem. We've appointed a committee and we're waiting for their recommendations" while continuing to do, in fact, sweet bugger-all. Check back in a year or two and tell me how many - if any - of this committee's recommendations are ever actually implemented. I'm going to go out on a limb here and bet $10 on "zero". In other words - relax, this is a non-story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_b Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 One is certainly not going to gear up for very progressive policies after they have left the job outsourcing free traders and the social security cutters frame the national debate. Especially when Wall Street is in charge of the cabinet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Conway Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 He hasn't been handed the keys to the treasury He got those 2 years ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prole Posted January 22, 2011 Author Share Posted January 22, 2011 (edited) Just out of curiosity, what is the "political window dressing" value of the appointment of a jobs-killing, outsourcing expert to the "jobs czar" post? Who is Obama marketing to, I wonder. Is the window dressing for us? We're supposed to be impressed that he's drawn someone from a sector that actually makes things (other than ginormous profits from knowingly issuing bad loans), so that's good I guess. More likely, as he's been bending over backwards to do since the mid-terms, Obama's showing corporate America he'll provide returns on their investments (ahem, "contributions") after '12. Edited January 22, 2011 by prole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayB Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Just out of curiosity, what is the "political window dressing" value of the appointment of a jobs-killing, outsourcing expert to the "jobs czar" post? Who is Obama marketing to, I wonder. Is the window dressing for us? We're supposed to be impressed that he's drawn someone from a sector that actually makes things (other than ginormous profits from knowingly issuing bad loans), so that's good I guess. More likely, as he's been bending over backwards to do since the mid-terms, Obama's showing corporate America he'll provide returns on their investments (ahem, "contributions") after '12. My read was that Immelt was either taking the job out of a sincere conviction that he'd be able to serve the public in his capacity as an adviser or...use the political connections that he would have access to as an adviser to lobby for special privileges and pork for GE, that'd translate into higher compensation for him. Good way to score some "Green Jobs" pork, etc. Obama gets whatever political benefits that will accrue from having a business magnate on his team and/or those that will result from buying a businessman's support with pork. Soft cartelization/slouching towards Argentina. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayB Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 I don't doubt he is knowledgeable at what he does but Americans don't want another "free trader" who is going to outsource more jobs. GE and Immel have outsourced zillions of jobs until now. Obama is a classic 3rd way neoliberal who'll pursue deregulation and outsourcing despite his populist rhetoric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayB Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 As opposed to its unofficial policy? Yes. Thought so. You should be happy either way - no? De facto, de jure - both roads lead to Argentina/Greece. Same destination, different path. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Larry Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Would you feel better if establishing politically favored cartels to allocate resources was the nation's official policy? It is the nations official policy as the appointment of Immelt shows Jeffrey Immelt. G.E. is usually thought of as an industrial corporation, but it is also a big bank in disguise. In recent years, its G.E. Finance arm has provided more than half of its revenues. In November, 2008, at the height of the financial crisis, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation agreed to guarantee bonds issued by G.E. Capital, and in the following seven months the firm issued almost $90 billion worth of debt that was backed by U.S. taxpayers. Without this taxpayer guarantee, which wasn’t highly publicized at the time, G.E. would have struggled to roll over its debts and could even have gone under. Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2011/01/volcker-immelt.html#ixzz1BimJLNsF The nice thing about Official national champions is the quid pro quo would obligate them to keep technology and jobs within the nation; GE is fucking their future shipping tech to China. Good on you Hugh. I suspected GE had their fingers into a conglomerate of stuff; first time I heard about banking but that shouldn't have surprised me, thats where some of the biggest scams and profits are happening. It's interesting that GE doesn't point at their financial arm for all the profit. After all the marginalized folks with 24 credit cards get shut down........? Too small to survive. It's funny how they keep telling us that the USA is getting more jobs while giving companies the green light[money?] to go to China. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 I'm giving some plumbers a little employment right now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Larry Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 I'm giving some plumbers a little employment right now! Thats the best news I have heard in awhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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