CNBC: Trump should learn from JFK for bashing companies

[baydude]

https://mobile.twitter.com/CNBC/status/821820204372099073

Kennedy was shocked when U.S. Steel raised prices because he mistakenly thought he had struck a deal with the company. And U.S. Steel was shocked that Kennedy singled them out in a news conference a day later because presidents simply didn't do that. Obviously, Kennedy's assassination makes it impossible to truly gauge the full political damage caused by his fumbled interference with U.S. Steel.

Have they gone too far?

 

[superstition]

Nice article. It basically says don't expect corporations to be people and let them win every time.

They're apparently bigger than everyone, including the executive branch.

lol

1) Corporations will renege on deals

2) Wall Street will use a Scorthed Earth response to prevent corporate reform/accountability

3) Presidents will end up shot

TOO BIG TO BE ACCOUNTABLE!

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Are you referring to CNBC as the comments on that Twitter post seem to? They're clearly referring to the economic backlash JFK received, not his assassination. I've never heard an explanation for the JFK assassination being the result of disgruntled US Steel workers.

fwiw I think Trump using his mouth to publicly trash companies is one of the best things Trump is actually capable of. For example, the Republican party will never reign in pharma companies, but a wildcard Trump wanting to win some populist points could easily take them and their stocks down a peg.

 

[superstition]

It started when Kennedy leaned on the steelworkers unions to accept a smaller pay raise so the White House could help keep steel prices down. Kennedy thought that when the unions agreed, U.S. Steel would uphold its end and hold prices steady. But it didn't. Just after the union agreement, U.S. Steel announced a $6 per ton price increase. An infuriated Kennedy responded with a decidedly non-Camelot-sounding tirade against the company at a news conference a day later. A massive retaliation effort by what seemed like the entire Kennedy administration followed, and four days later U.S. Steel backed off its price hike decision.

Either Kennedy was a naive moron, which the article implies, or that company was an exploitative liar. I think the latter makes a lot more sense.

But it was Pyrrhic victory. The extraordinary interference in the steel industry by the White House chilled many other industries, the markets, and even led to cautionary comments about that interference from organized labor. A month later, that angry and frightened sentiment hadn't abated and it led to a major stock market selloff that was the worst since the 1929 market crash. Steel shares fell 50 percent and it seemed like the entirety of corporate America had turned against the White House in despair. Kennedy's push by the end of the year to cut and simplify tax rates helped to improve White House-business relations just a bit, but not completely.

Yes, extraordinary chilling influence to pressure a union to cave to the corporation's demands. LOL.

And what made the Kennedy spat with the steel industry so unique was the fact that both sides were blindsided by each other's actions. Kennedy was shocked when U.S. Steel raised prices because he mistakenly thought he had struck a deal with the company. And U.S. Steel was shocked that Kennedy singled them out in a news conference a day later because presidents simply didn't do that. Obviously, Kennedy's assassination makes it impossible to truly gauge the full political damage caused by his fumbled interference with U.S. Steel. But we do know that more than a year after it began, there were still open self-inflicted wounds in Washington, Wall Street, and steel country.

Kennedy's fumble? How about U.S. Steel's fumbling of the deal by reneging? Hmm?

A) Get what you want, thanks to the president pressuring a union.
B) Say "screw him" and renege on the deal.
C) Blame the president for your corrupt behavior.
D) Have an article written about you later that says the president should realize he's powerless.

OK. All hail the all-mighty corporate overlords.

 

[1prophet]

Are you referring to CNBC as the comments on that Twitter post seem to? They're clearly referring to the economic backlash JFK received, not his assassination. I've never heard an explanation for the JFK assassination being the result of disgruntled US Steel workers.

fwiw I think Trump using his mouth to publicly trash companies is one of the best things Trump is actually capable of. For example, the Republican party will never reign in pharma companies, but a wildcard Trump wanting to win some populist points could easily take them and their stocks down a peg.

How about a disgruntled military/industrial complex

http://bostonreview.net/us/galbraith-exit-strategy-vietnam

 

[MongGrel]

How about a disgruntled military/industrial complex

http://bostonreview.net/us/galbraith-exit-strategy-vietnam

I rarely agree with you about anything, but that had something to do with it back then, I'd bet.

Time are changing from then, Globalization is the thing now.

1984 has already been achieved, it seems to be a race in between Governments becoming defunct and Corporations running everything outright in Rollerball mode, or AI hitting Singularity.

Either or could probably happen within 30 years. We'll have to see if the CEO's can keep the computers on a leash

I won't be around then at any rate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity

Anyone up for some Soylent Green