You drank my milkshake!
Independent globalists optimize after-tax returns, labor, and supply chains into the tax and regulatory regimes that are most favorable.
It’s an optimization exercise and a chess game. This seems to be the dominant strategy:
1) After-Tax Returns
The equation: taxes + regulation. Taxes are simple; they reduce your profits by their rate. Regulation is more complicated because it costs money to comply, but there are also opportunity costs from business activities that are no longer available.
The game: reduce and eliminate taxes and regulation. Express the stresses of international competition to pressure national politics using one issue at a time in the countries where you do business.
2) Labor
The equation: salary + benefits, including long term commitments. Retirement, health care, and other benefits have costs, but also may reduce employee turnover.
The game: reduce and eliminate costs within each role. Divide operational units and move them to locations with optimal rules and costs. Use the placement of these units to pressure politics to reduce labor’s collective bargaining rights.
3) Supply Chains
The equation: price. Commodities and other non-labor costs are priced on global markets, and are mostly fungible.
The game: reduce and eliminate regulations that internalize costs of production for your suppliers.
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Dan Von Kohorn 