Do We Need Corporations?

[terry]

This is something that I have pondered over for quite a while now and I still can't make my mind up.

I am quite sure that we don't need some corporations. For instance, we don't need Ladbrokes do we? We, the British people, do not need our betting shops to be controlled by a small number of big concerns. They are bad for staff and bad for customers.

But presumably we do need corporations such as Microsoft, as they have the resources to develop key products.

My issue is that there is no 'decision' as to whether a sector should be dominated by a few companies. It just happens. Surely some sectors would be better to be in many hands rather than a few?

[an capall]

Am interested in this question terry, but an not sure where you are coming from. Are you saying that you don't like mon/duopolies? Can you expand?

[terry]

I think that, where possible, individuals should be able to start and develop businesses, using their own ideas and having their own ways of doing things.

I don't think that there are enough opportunities for so doing in some sectors. It is relatively easy to do it in services and trades and that is unlikely to change.

However, take sectors like retail, leisure, food and drink, hotels and so on. Do they need to be carved up like they are at present? Do the employees and customers always benefit from the oligopolies which exist? If not, then who does benefit?

I've always thought of Communism and Socialism as dinosaurs, but I'm pretty convinced that a lot of these Corporations are in the same boat. In fact they are possibly worse. Surely, some day, people will wonder why the hell we tolerated them?

[sunybay]

Originally posted by terry@Oct 9 2004, 09:17 AM

I've always thought of Communism and Socialism as dinosaurs, but I'm pretty convinced that a lot of these Corporations are in the same boat. In fact they are possibly worse. Surely, some day, people will wonder why the hell we tolerated them?

Are you talking seriously?
or is a joke?

I think this kind of comments stinks!!!
However people who lives in England o rest of UE always have the possibility to go out to live in Cuba or China.

[terry]

Are you drunk Suny?

[Honest Tom]

What we need is government run exchanges. e.g. Government sites match people who want mortgages, insurance, loans, pensions etc. with people who want to loan (i.e. save) money. The customer gets the best rate available without having to interpret the gimmicks and the loaner (saver) gets the best rate for their savings. The government organises and oversees the whole thing and takes commission. Why do we have to have al these banks and financial ponces fleecing us?

[prince regent]

if the political parties did away with pension companies where would they get their financial backing from

if the goverment did away with insurance companies where would the residents
of the broadmoor estate get their xmas money from

if the goverment did away with "loan" companies

where would martin pipe get his owners from??

[BrianH]

suny, you misunderstand. I don't like labelling people but if anything terry is a conservative. What he is saying is that power in the hands of a small number of big businesses could be as harmful as socialism or communism. He is certainly not advocating those systems - he is echoing Fritz Schumacher in saying that small is beautiful.

[Ardross]

The USA of course was a pioneer of anti trust legislation - not that it seems very effective

[BrianH]

The anti-trust laws in the USA were a great idea. Unfortunately, as is the case everywhere in the world, they are used selectively.

[sunybay]

My poor english betrayed me again.

Apologies to Terry.

[terry]

No problem Suny and thanks for the PM.

[Ardross]

I think socialism is great ! It has just never been tried anywhere

Gordon Brown is a great redistributive chancellor - it is just that nobody has noticed

[an capall]

Anti-Trust are generally a great idea, but I think the recent ruling on the Oracle/Peoplesoft merger is one of it's greatest errors. It will mean that apart from SAP, most enterprise server applications on the globe will be owned by a company run by Larry Ellison. Larry is almost the stereotypical Bond arch villan who wants to rule the world.

His business vision is not just to bulid the applications but host them on Oracle business servers on an outsource model. Think about it. All that data on Larry Ellison servers. It will be rigidly secure of course.

[terry]

Ardross, I'll have words with you about Golden Brown in a separate thread sometime. But socialism has only ever managed to make lots of 'working class' people dependent upon the state and they are very good at this. We now have the country gradually falling back into the hands of the toffs, so well done Socialists.

An, that is the sort of thing that I mean and I don't know why some political party or the other doesn't attack on this front. Are they all in the pockets of the Corporations?

It's a battle that is waiting to happen.

[BrianH]

But where do you think politicians get their backing money from?