Speaking of Capitalism...

Trey Smith

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt has defended his company's 'immoral' tax policies, saying of the internet giant's evasions to get out of paying billions of dollars: "It's called capitalism."

News reports this week revealed that Google avoided paying at least $2 billion in taxes in 2011 by siphoning off $10 billion in profits to a Bermuda shell company. The figure is almost double the amount the company was hiding offshore three years ago, official company documents show.

When asked about Google's tax evasions by Bloomberg News last night, Schmidt said: ‘It’s called capitalism. We are proudly capitalistic. I’m not confused about this.’

The company reportedly uses complex tax schemes called the 'Double Irish' and 'Dutch Sandwich', which take large royalty payments from international subsidiaries and set up a shell corporation in countries with no corporate taxes, like Bermuda.

In the UK, Members of Parliament on the powerful Public Accounts Committee last month slammed Google’s methods as ‘immoral.’

And while governments in France, Britain, Italy and Australia are probing Google's tax avoidance, in the US there has been no such probe. Instead, Google's Schmidt was reportedly asked by President Obama to serve as either Treasury or Commerce Secretary in his second Administration. Apparently Schmidt said no.
~ from Google on 'Immoral' Tax Evasion: 'It's Called Capitalism' by Craig Brown ~

The British MPs seem a tad bit confused. Google -- a capitalist enterprise -- is not immoral. It is amoral. In other words, morality plays no role in the capitalist system.

The goal of the capitalist is to maximize profits. Period. No ands, ifs or buts. If a capitalist tries to base his/her decisions on moral precepts, then that corporation is bound to fail. Others will pass it by and suck up its market share.

This is not to suggest that the MPs are wrong. What Google and so many other corporations are doing by dodging their fair share of taxes indeed IS immoral. But the fault lies with the capitalist system itself, not a specific company.

So, Google's CEO made a very true statement. He's simply playing by the rules as they are laid out and it is these amoral rules themselves that are immoral!