<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">On Thu, May 28, 2026 at 4:23\u202fPM D. Hugh Redelmeier <<a href="mailto:hugh@mimosa.com">hugh@mimosa.com</a>> wrote:</div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><br>
I think that a fair number of decisions are based on tax issues. For <br>
example, share buy-backs vs. dividends. A number of transactions are <br>
designed to be "tax efficient".<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div>The primary objective of any public company is to deliver profits to the shareholder. Increasing profits is the primary way, because profits are always greater than taxes, it's always a net win. After profits the secondary job is to deal with profits, which can include tax savings measures, but also (re)investment. <br></div><div><br></div><div>An employee will always take a raise in salary because <span class="Asgive ng" style="border-style:none;background:none">it's always</span> more take-home pay. They look for tax breaks at <span class="Asgive ng" style="border-style:none;background:none">the end of the year.</span> like contributing to <span class="G8OMXb ng" style="border-style:none;background:none">RRSPS</span> in Feb.</div><div><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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Big tech companies were often structured to make all their profits in<br>
Ireland, for example. There has been some cracking down on this.<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div>This is a race to the bottom that I don't know how to <span class="Asgive ng" style="border-style:none;background:none">deal with.</span> One <span class="Asgive ng" style="border-style:none;background:none">way</span> is transfer pricing, which <span class="Asgive ng" style="border-style:none;background:none">is already in place, where a company has</span> to defend why profits are associated with a country. You can't design, manufacture, <span class="Q6ibn ng" style="border-style:none;background:none">support, debug,</span> a device in the US and send all the profits to a file folder in an Irish lawyer's cabinet. </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><br>
Formally, that's true. It looks as if many corporations are run for the <br>
advantage of top management -- apparently shareholder interest is too <br>
diffuse.<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div>Are you thinking of the Golden Parachute? Boards may not make great <span class="Q6ibn ng" style="border-style:none;background:none">decisions</span> hiring C<span class="Asgive ng" style="border-style:none;background:none"> levels,</span> but one reason for golden parachutes is a CEO who has a 10 year plan to turn a company around. <span class="Q6ibn ng" style="border-style:none;background:none">S/He</span> needs 10 years and <span class="Asgive ng" style="border-style:none;background:none">s/he </span>wants to <span class="Asgive ng" style="border-style:none;background:none">make sure that</span> future boards don't get cold feet and fire them before<span class="Asgive ng" style="border-style:none;background:none"> it's acheived.</span> So they ask for significant severance if fired early.<br>Or perhaps you're thinking of the primary investor as CEO, like Musk. That's a different class of CEO who wields wide power, either over public perception or other industry greats. I</div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><br>
Big multinationals are hard for a small country to reign-in. US, EU,<br>
and PRC seem to be the only nations with sufficient heft. And the<br>
monopolist's host country often defends the monopolists from attacks<br>
by other countries.<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div>And when we <span class="Asgive ng" style="border-style:none;background:none">try, like our Bill C18 forcing</span> social media companies to pay to use Canadian news media, they can foment public outrage.</div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<br>
The US anti-trust rules were hobbled by a Supreme Court ruling that only <br>
horizontal integration mattered (clearly false) and earlier rulings say <br>
that only financial harm to consumers mattered (also clearly false).<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div>Right now the US is really <span class="Asgive ng" style="border-style:none;background:none">messed up.</span> </div></div><div><br clear="all"></div><div><br></div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div>John Van Ostrand<br></div><div>At large on sabbatical<br></div><br></div></div></div>