The editorial of April 6, “The return of takeovers isn’t all bad,” is very much off the mark. The current round of takeovers is no better than the rapacious deals of the 1980s. Companies, jobs, communities and lives will be destroyed for the many to benefit the very few, the already richest 1.5 percent of the population.
These deals create nothing for the economy. After these deals, there is always a net loss of jobs, tax revenues, etc. No matter how your editorial writer tries to spin these deals, they stink.
Your own editorial shows how bad the Grumman deal really is. You state that there are 32,000 employees in Grumman’s retirement plan who have recently seen their plan’s value increase by $250 million. Big deal, this only amounts to $7,812.50 additional per employee in the plan.
How does this amount compare with the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars that the deal-makers individually and corporately will take home? It will be interesting to see if there is any retirement plan left in a few years after the deal starts to sour.
Instead of rewarding and applauding this plundering of the economy and destruction of jobs and lives, perhaps what should be applauded and rewarded are the creation of new industries, technologies and jobs. And not with funny money, but with real out-of-pocket investments.
