Posted by Sir Four at 8:29pm Mar 9 '13"pretty much every other developed country in the world has a more leftist view of the role of free markets and the state than you do"
True, although you and I have lived during a right-ward swing in American politics. Reagan's presidency was very key in this regard, and Americans who came of age during Reagan's time in office remain consistently more right-wing than other generations--even decades later. Can't let you Brits off the hook entirely, though. Reagan had his Thatcher, and Bush had his Blair after all. There is some reason now to hope that America's political pendulum is moving back the other way. Ever-slowly.
"you threw the rulebook at BP over the Deepwater Horizon incident, even though the US companies Transocean and Halliburton were equally, or more, at fault."
I've got to call you on that one. BP was primarily to blame. Halliburton tried to advise them of their safety hazards and they ignored. There was gross incompetence at BP, not just in this incident but generally. See:
Just a horrible company all-around. I completely reject the theory that the book was thrown at BP specifically because they're headquartered in Britain.
"you execute people"
This is a state issue, so it pertains only to certain states within the US. Arguably a bigger issue is the shear number of people we incarcerate, and how their rights are limited even after serving their time.
"you still have institutional disenfranchisement of minorities"
It's a work in progress. On this note, there's actually a challenge before the Supreme Court of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which requires states that had a history of minority voter suppression to submit election changes to be approved at the federal level. It'll be interesting to see how that case comes out, especially considering the attempts at voter suppression in the last election.
"you subsidise your own industries, and erect import tariffs to protect your own market."
Sometimes, yes. Don't all countries do this to a degree? And don't these issues get fought out at the WTO? I don't believe the US is a particularly egregious violator here.
"allowing you to take over and wreck companies like Cadbury,
Elements within the US do this to other US companies, as well. One of these even ran for president last year.
"and yet it is almost impossible for foreigners to run a company in the US."
What? The World Bank ranks the US 4th in ease of doing business. I worked for six years at a company set up by a consortium of European investors (mostly Danish), and I'm not aware of any particular trouble they had as a result of locating this particular operation in the US. Quite the contrary, they seemed to have chosen a US location because it offered a favorable business environment.
True, although you and I have lived during a right-ward swing in American politics. Reagan's presidency was very key in this regard, and Americans who came of age during Reagan's time in office remain consistently more right-wing than other generations--even decades later. Can't let you Brits off the hook entirely, though. Reagan had his Thatcher, and Bush had his Blair after all. There is some reason now to hope that America's political pendulum is moving back the other way. Ever-slowly.
"you threw the rulebook at BP over the Deepwater Horizon incident, even though the US companies Transocean and Halliburton were equally, or more, at fault."
I've got to call you on that one. BP was primarily to blame. Halliburton tried to advise them of their safety hazards and they ignored. There was gross incompetence at BP, not just in this incident but generally. See:
In the last five years, investigators found, BP has admitted to breaking U.S. environmental and safety laws and committing outright fraud. BP paid $373 million in fines to avoid prosecution.
BP's safety violations far outstrip its fellow oil companies. According to the Center for Public Integrity, in the last three years, BP refineries in Ohio and Texas have accounted for 97 percent of the "egregious, willful" violations handed out by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
OSHA statistics show BP ran up 760 "egregious, willful" safety violations, while Sunoco and Conoco-Phillips each had eight, Citgo had two and Exxon had one comparable citation.
Just a horrible company all-around. I completely reject the theory that the book was thrown at BP specifically because they're headquartered in Britain.
"you execute people"
This is a state issue, so it pertains only to certain states within the US. Arguably a bigger issue is the shear number of people we incarcerate, and how their rights are limited even after serving their time.
"you still have institutional disenfranchisement of minorities"
It's a work in progress. On this note, there's actually a challenge before the Supreme Court of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which requires states that had a history of minority voter suppression to submit election changes to be approved at the federal level. It'll be interesting to see how that case comes out, especially considering the attempts at voter suppression in the last election.
"you subsidise your own industries, and erect import tariffs to protect your own market."
Sometimes, yes. Don't all countries do this to a degree? And don't these issues get fought out at the WTO? I don't believe the US is a particularly egregious violator here.
"allowing you to take over and wreck companies like Cadbury,
Elements within the US do this to other US companies, as well. One of these even ran for president last year.
"and yet it is almost impossible for foreigners to run a company in the US."
What? The World Bank ranks the US 4th in ease of doing business. I worked for six years at a company set up by a consortium of European investors (mostly Danish), and I'm not aware of any particular trouble they had as a result of locating this particular operation in the US. Quite the contrary, they seemed to have chosen a US location because it offered a favorable business environment.
Re: You meddle too much - Sir Four