June 24, 2018
We know that the folks who run major corporations are not terribly competent, but are they really less able to defend their companies’ interest in signing contracts than an ordinary worker who may not even have a high school degree? That apparently is the view of our elites as indicated by this Washington Post article.
The piece tells us that the Trump administration is demanding an end to Chinese “policies that force foreign companies to surrender trade secrets in return for access to the Chinese market.”
The Post apparently couldn’t find anyone who would point out that this push by the Trump administration is rather pathetic. No one forces US corporations to do business in China. If they share technology as a condition of doing business, it is apparently because they consider the arrangement to be in their interest. There is no obvious reason why the US government should hold their hands and tell them not to sign deals they consider profitable.
By contrast, the Supreme Court ruled that such hand-holding was not necessary for workers under current law. It said nothing prevents workers from signing away their right to class-action lawsuits as part of an employment contract. So the accepted wisdom among our elites is that our largest corporations need a type of protection that ordinary workers do not get.
And we really have to wonder why we see so much income inequality?
Note: This corrects an earlier version that mischaracterized the Supreme Court ruling. Thanks to Robert Salzberg for bringing this to my attention.
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