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Dear John,
Excuse my language, but why is Boeing such a sh*tty corporation?
Their planes are literally falling apart in the sky. Multiple Boeing planes have had parts fall off this year -- including an exit door during a flight in January and a wheel on another flight just yesterday.
And now Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to a felony count of conspiracy to defraud charge related to the two 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people.
While Boeing’s downfall has been extreme, it’s a case study in how American capitalism has become so rotten. It all comes down to one thing: monopolization.
Check out this week’s video to see how Boeing is reflective of troubling economic trends over the last 40 years. Then hit “Share” to let your friends know how we can build better safeguards against the abuses of monopolization.
When Boeing was allowed to merge with McDonnell Douglas in 1997 to become America’s only major manufacturer of commercial aircraft, the corporate culture changed. Executives who specialized in engineering were replaced with Wall Street financiers who cared more about the company’s stock price than about the integrity of its planes. After all, they didn’t have to compete.
They spent billions on stock buybacks that could have been spent on safety and innovation, and they sunk hundreds of millions into campaign contributions and lobbying that bought them looser safety standards.
They kneecapped union workers by building a plant in anti-union South Carolina, then told managers not to move any unionized employees to the new plant. Engineers and machinists warned of massive quality control problems that management ignored. As a virtual monopoly, the company faced few repercussions for its terrible performance.
Now, however, Boeing should serve as a cautionary tale that reflects broader trends in the economy: monopolization, billions siphoned off to the super-wealthy, cutting corners, bashing unions, and hundreds of millions in lobbying and campaign contributions.
What can we do about all this? Fortunately there are steps we can take. We can enforce antitrust laws and break up companies that are too big. We can ban stock buybacks, which were illegal before Reagan. We can rebuild unions and fight to get Big Money out of politics.
Watch the video here and share your thoughts with us and with your friends.
Thank you for helping to chart a new path, to break up corporate monopolies!
Robert Reich
Inequality Media
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