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Oops! How could this happen?
But happen it did, according to Lester R. Brown. After visiting Europe recently, he wrote Foreign Policy Damages U.S. Economy. Here are a few of his observations:
> Coca-Cola sales in Germany dropped 16 percent from the similar period last year
> McDonald’s, a corporation with a remarkable historical growth record, has seen its sales come to a near standstill across Europe.
> Gap has pulled out of Germany entirely
> Wal-Mart, the world’s most successful retailer, is facing heavy losses in Germany
> With losses of $236 million in the region, GM is laying off 12,000 workers in Germany. Ford may soon follow with layoffs.
Business depends upon developing friendly relations. This is why businesses show friendly faces to potential customers here at home. It is also necessary to present a friendly face to potential customers abroad. Businesses try to do this. But how can they counteract the backlash against the administration's insulting, denigrating and intolerant foreign policy actions?
They cannot. Nobody can. Europeans are upset and resentful of Bush's foreign policy. And they will feel this way until American foreign policy changes. Nobody wants to be treated like a fool. Europeans have found a way to fight back Bush's insolence: a boycott of American goods.
What should Big Business do? Like Bush, it should get offf its high horse. It's time to think of foreign affairs, foreign aid, political action, military action and diplomatic action as part of the same system that supports international business. If Big Business wants to sell abroad, it must see to it that the U.S. government presents a more friendly foreign policy.
Will Big Business fight for this? We'll see.
