From socialism toward fascism:
"Jeff Immelt's experience at GE and his understanding of the vital role of the private sector plays in creating jobs and making America competitive makes him up to the challenge of leading this new council."
-- Statement from President Obama announcing his appointment of GE CEO Jeff Immelt to lead the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
No word yet whether Immelt plans to step down from his position at GE to avoid any perception of conflict of interest.
Full disclosure - I bought a bit of GE stock when it was in the tank, so I for one welcome the conflict.
Immelt's success at GE, if measured by the share price during his tenure was pretty poor.
ReplyDeleteImmelt's success at GE, if measured by the share price when he took over against what it is today is pretty poor. GE share price has not recovered at all compared with other similar sized companies.
ReplyDeleteThat's not exactly the type of leadership you want.
Immelt's success, or lack of success at GE, make him a curious choice. Under his leadership GE stock tanked and has not come back.
ReplyDeleteSome of us had him as a fascist all along.
ReplyDeleteBill, I bought at $7, and I tjhink it closed at around $18 on Friday. Not a bad return on investment. GE also potentially benefits from Obama's Green policy, and other govenmenatal enviro-goodies. They seemed to have survived the GE Capital albatross, and I believe they are positioned well in the long term. But, like you, I'm not a big fan of Immelt.
ReplyDeleteBill, I bought at $7, it closed at $18 on Friday. Not a bad return on investment. GE also potentially benefits from Obama's Green policy, and other govenmenatal enviro-goodies. They seemed to have survived the GE Capital albatross, and I believe they are positioned well in the long term. But, like you, I'm not a big fan of Immelt.
ReplyDeleteWhen will we see the takeovers of Transcontinental Railroad and Rearden Steel?
ReplyDeleteBoth Bill and Pat are right. GE's value is considerably lower than when Immelt took over, and Pat bought at the right time. I tried to convince the Kitten to buy GE, but she wouldn't budge. Bank of America too...both are up ridiculously now.
ReplyDeleteI bought Ford and Caterpillar, sold both at a nice profit--and now see that they are both 30 per cent higher than where I sold them.
So the message here? Don't listen to me.
I always considered Mussolini the quintessential fascist. He wasn't just some thug, there was a strict construct and form to his ideology. And when I see something like Immelt and Obama smooching I think of this.
ReplyDelete"Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power." Add big labor in the mix and that's what runs Europe now, and what Obama wants for us.
Stae Socialism and Corporatism had a child. They named it Fascism.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the multiple posts this morning. Operator error.
ReplyDeleteThe GE share price close for the week that Immelt took over was $37.40. It closed at $19.74 this week and that is with no stock splits. I know many stocks were hammered post 9/11 and in the past 2 years but GE has shown little signs of recovery.
Great post this topic over at Powerline.blog:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/01/028187.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+powerlineblog%2Flivefeed+%28Power+Line%29