Aug 18, 2011

Putting 2 and 2 together, we can see one major reason why we have such a high unemployment problem. GE announced in late July that the company is moving its entire x-ray headquarters to China to help them obtain lower health-care costs.

GE's former CEO, Jeffrey Immelt was given a job as an economic advisor by President Obama  in D.C. just last January. He will be the new head of a Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Yes, that should give the President some "pro-business credentials."

http://www.businessinsider.com/general-electric-x-ray-headquarters-china-2011-07

General Electric's health-care unit is moving the headquarters of its x-ray business from Waukesha, Wisconsin to Beijing to gain from Chinese growth, according to Bloomberg...

While the company reported no job losses in the U.S. stemming from the move, President Obama and Jeffrey Immelt are likely to face flak, since Obama appointed Immelt the top outside economic adviser and charged him with running a jobs-focused panel to help bring the U.S. economy back on track.

GE came under scrutiny earlier this year after The New York Times reported the company did not pay any taxes in 2010. It has since been reported that GE had not finished its tax filing, and that the company expected to pay taxes.

Immelt has also been criticized for employing 36,000 more people abroad, than in the U.S. and cutting 34,000 American jobs after becoming CEO, according to The Huffington Post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/21/jeffrey-immelt-appointed_n_812083.html

Early Friday morning, Obama announced a significant shift for the White House economic team: the war against Wall Street greed has lost a major player, and corporate America has gained an advocate.

General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt will be the new head of a Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. This panel will replace Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, formerly headed by Paul Volcker.

The two men have significantly different backgrounds. Immelt is a lifelong Republican and, as Bloomberg put it, "a corporate heavyweight who can help burnish Obama's pro-business credentials."

Don't worry. This can't last forever. Americans only have a limited amount of money to spend on foreign imports before it runs out altogether. Then the corporations will have to do business elsewhere.