Apple Inc. (AAPL), that is the company that manufactures iPod, iPad, and iPhone, has $76 billion in cash on hand. That is more money than the GDP of 2/3 of the world’s countries.
Morningstar reported today that Apple will “invest $1 billion in Sharp’s Kameyama plant in Japan, without elaborating. Their source is a Reuters news agency report.
One comment on this story read in part: “But not in the USA. Now, if we are talking about job creation tell us Mr. Jobs why Apple is not helping out. Surely we can make LCD screens here. Where is your corporate responsibility to country?”
A second comment contradicts the first saying in part: “You can’t force (or expect) companies to accept lower returns due to patriotism, nationalism etc. Capital is portable, it is agnostic. It seeks the highest risk adjusted returns, just like water flowing downhill. The solution is creating an environment where Companies are better off investing here, rather than outside the country. There are tons of drivers for this, regulatory, legal, labor costs, tax, FX hedging etc.”
My opinion is both are correct. We are faced with a conundrum. A company’s first loyalty should be to its shareholders. At the same time there ought to be some loyalty to your nation. Here is perfect opportunity for the president of the United States to get on the phone and talk to the COO of Apple, Timothy D. Cook , and perhaps to Steve Jobs too. “How can we induce you to bring jobs back to the States?” A good negotiator could make some headway. Perhaps the negotiator is the president’s chief of staff, Bill Daley, who is known to have excellent ties to the business community.
When Bill Daley is done talking to Apple executives he needs to move on to the leaders of other large American companies.
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