Milne: Why the US is Fatally Tied To The Global Economy

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Paul dedicates this to Mr. Decker.

Subject:US Tied To The Global Economy
Date:1999/07/18
Author:Paul Milne <fedinfo@halifax.com>
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One of the most lamentable Pollyanna mantras is their feeble cry that problems will abound overseas but be manageable here. This is bullshit. Our economy is INEXTICABLY linked to the global economy.
 
Below are the top 20 multinational individual percentage of foreign revenue to total revenue.
 
 
Exxon 80.1%
IBM 56.8%
Ford Motor 30.3%
General Motors 30.8
Texaco 79.3%
General Electric 31.1%
Mobil 58.7% Citigroup 34.4%
Hewlett-Packard 54.3%
Philip Morris 34.3%
Chevron 47.3%
Proctor & Gamble 48.3%
American Int'l Group 52.5%
Compaq Computer 55.1%
Intel 55.6% Motorola 47.6%
Xerox 55.9%
Wal-Mart Stores 8.9%
Coca-Cola 62.3%
Du Pont 47.2%
 
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/99/07/26/6402202a.htm
 
 
Only an abject idiot can not see that these companies are DEEPLY DEEPLY enscrewed if they lose a significant amount of foreign sales.
 
Pollyannas have an inate inability to see the big picture. They have tunnel vision. They do not understand the economic context of the coming failures.
 
Paul Milne



-- a (a@a.a), July 20, 1999

Answers

Just to play devil's advocate, couldn't we point out how much of these company's EXPENSES would be cut if they didn't do this foreign commerce?

Just think of the payrolls that could be cut, the shipping costs that could be saved, the taxes they would not have to pay......

(tongue *very* firmly in cheek.....)

-- Jon Williamson (jwilliamson003@sprintmail.com), July 20, 1999.


O.K., the oil companies would have their expenses for petroleum presumably reduced an average of 80% (not exactly, but you get the idea) if all of the 80% of petroleum they currently import stopped being available. Oh, gee, wouldn't that also reduce what they could sell here as well? Then, their economies of scale would go down, too...

www.y2ksafeminnesota.com

-- MinnesotaSmith (y2ksafeminnesota@hotmail.com), July 20, 1999.


Some of the figures posted, if accurate, are misleading. For example if 8.9% of Wallmart sales are from foreign markets, this figure does not consider the percentage of their income that comes from the sale in their stores of items manufactured in foreign countries. If 60% of the stuff sold in their stores is made overseas, and supply lines are disrupted so that half of this stuff does not arrive to be sold, their income will drop substantially more than 8.9%. Even Shep and Curly can understand that.

-- Moe (Moe@3stooges.gom), July 20, 1999.

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