Emerson Epitomizes the American Business Paradox

[Originally posted to Facebook on February 13, 2011]

When people on the right say they want government to "get out of the way", what exactly do they mean by that? Here in St. Louis, the Post announced David Farr, CEO of Emerson Electric, to be Citizen of the Year. I found that curious, given Farr's comments in the recent past about America and American workers.

Many of you probably have no idea what Emerson is. They make electrical equipment that other heavy industry buys and uses. They're as important as GE in that regard. Oh, they also lend their name to ultra-low-end consumer electronics in some markets (sitting next to companies like Yorx and Hinyo and stuff). If you operate an electrical power plant, you know about Emerson. They're probably the largest company whose corporate HQ remains in St. Louis. That's important to the city, given how many we've lost over the years.

But Farr is far from popular, after telling shareholders in 2008 that he's "not going to hire anybody in the United States. I'm moving." He hasn't stuck to that, and he admits he's hired Americans, but he has a tendency to exaggerate to make a point: Americans are expensive and against the interests of shareholders.

His proclamation as Citizen of the Year is for his charitable contributions and donations and support to various causes around St. Louis. He is a generous contributor to the arts, sitting on the board of many venerable organizations in town, such as the Muny Opera. But it also strikes many people as ironic that a person who thinks Americans aren't worth hiring are worth donating to help out. Or perhaps that's just pragmatic.....people without jobs need help, and he won't help them with jobs.

He, like many business leaders, ask the Federal and state governments to "just get out of the way" of business. That brings me back to my opening question, because I think the majority political view -- what can the government do for me? -- means different things to different people. I've told people before, from the perspective of a moderate libertarian, that government regulation usually doesn't just exist in a vacuum of the desire for power, as so many loud Conservatives assert frequently. Neither is the government totally in the pocket of Big Business, like many loud Liberals assert.

The truth lies somewhere in between, and in between lies the trench warfare of force politics. I'm sure many businesses would like government to get out of the way, so they can get back to the business of dumping waste into rivers and the air, killing their employees with unsafe working conditions, and owning communities as indentured servants. Such things are why unions came about, and why the government does in fact regulate things. Most government regulations come about because of bad behavior.

On the other hand, business could make good arguments that they are not, in fact, tax collectors or welfare agencies. The tethering of health care to employment is one of the big cultural failures of the last century. The perspective that Liberals have of deeming "unfair" the fact that rich people have stuff and poor people don't is one of the primary motivators for businesses to flee America. Government regulation frequently goes far beyond protecting people, and into using business as a bank account for funding social policy change.

So honestly, Conservatives, what parts of the Federal government are in your way? What would it take for you to bring your jobs back to America? And Liberals, at what level of control over business will you be satisfied? Let me know in the comments.