Capitalism Wins Iran Deal, Not Politics

by Michael Keane

In the end, the lure of capitalism and wealth won over both sides when it came to striking a deal in Iran. There are many Fortune 500 companies like GE, Apple and other global companies that will benefit from Iran’s government opening up their markets. Iran now can also have the ability to sell more oil. Because so many people depend on the profits that these companies and commodities provide (including you and I), the benefit could not be ignored by either side or stopped by the extreme elements of each side. That is not to say that things can’t change. But it will take extreme measures in order to do so.  A link to the Wall Street Journal article is here.

The opponents of this bill will both yell and demand changes, especially the political figures. But one thing they will not do is sell shares of the companies involved in the trade aspect of the deal as they (and everyone else) know that the new market will provide profit and wealth growth. They will not even mention the economics of the deal. That is a clear indication that there will not be enough teeth in the bite to change the deal. There will be lots of positioning on the political side, but hardly any action.   

Trade and Commerce have been given an opportunity to thwart hard line patterns and create a higher level of peace. Let’s work towards pushing this forward in a responsible way as shareholders and continue promoting the benefits while guarding against the greed that Trade and Commerce can create. 

Opinions are that of the author and are not to be taken as to take action for or against any organization or person mentioned in the article. The Twitter handle is @keanevcc and the facebook page is KeaneVCC.

American vs Chinese Capitalism

With capitalism starting to take more of a hold on the Chinese community, there are some growing issues that butt up against its limits given its political structure. Reports are showing that more and more wealthy Chinese are leaving the country to pursue life with better benefits outside of making money. There are also news reports showing a higher discontent level by ordinary Chinese citizens with the fact that even though Alibaba is a Chinese company, they are not allowed to purchase shares. These two examples show that there might be a ceiling in regards to how far capitalism can reach in a communist centric political system.

In the last few years, it has been well documented that there are a large percentage of wealthy Chinese citizens looking to move away from China. This is not surprising. It is because these families have reached a point where the utility of making another dollar is less important than the utility of social or educational benefits found elsewhere. This can be seen as a direct result of the regulations put on the society by China’s communist government. Until the government is able to change some of its social policies (whether it’s education, environment, freedom of speech), this exodus will continue to grow. Maybe the Chinese government is ok with these people leaving as it would create job openings for other Chinese. But when the population sees the trend, they will probably be motivated to move on as a whole, which could be detrimental to the political stability of the country.

This week, Alibaba will be going public. But with investment regulations being so tight for for the non-wealthy in China, they are unable to invest. This is maddening to some, as Alibaba is considered a main Chinese company. This issue could create some unrest within the investing community in China, as the pride of having a company like Alibaba have more of a foreign ownership hurts the pride of the country. The following Bloomberg article (link here) spells out the issue more.   

Both of these issues should be taken as reminders as to the limits capitalism has when operating under a political system like China’s. A country should never want its successful, rich citizens to leave. It should also give the general public the same access to their own companies stock as the wealthy do. Only then will these issues stop.

A special thanks goes out to the American way of capitalism. It is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. But it does give access to those who desire it most, unlike other countries.

*This is an opinion piece. *