The Great American Job Sellout 883

In 1977-78. the Janata party came to power and George Fernandes who was originally a union leader -orchestrated the removal of all MNCs from India (Coke, IBM etc..). They weren't kicked out -but were told to disclose their intellectual property (and reduce margins something like telling msft to reveal their src code to customers) if they wished to operate in India. Practically every MNC declined the offer and packed up their bags for good. IBM re-entered India about 10+ yrs back and formed a joint venture with Tatas (Tata Information systems ltd) which they acquired in full (after testing the politicial waters) to form IBM India -and I worked there sometime back. They never did pose a threat to India at any time and were in fact a-the major supplier of mainframe-high-end computers to the govt. But it is a fact that they charge their customers heavily for the brand name and pay their employees significantly less than previaling wages (and make them over-work to avoid hiring more personnel). All that is legal and does not present a threat to the citizenry.

That control is more due to campaign finance loopholes and not the business model of MNCs. It is legal to donate money to a political party in the US -but the same would be called a bribe in India. It is also legal to organize a fundraiser to pbutt a bill -which would be frowned upon elsewhere. Overall, more MNCs means more jobs -and that reflects in the higher std of living in the US. Whether or not that is sustainable is a different story.

regards -kamal