Shock! Oil Companies Pay Off Investors!
Doug Bandow, Open Market
July 22, 2008
The Associated Press was shocked to discover that, gasp!, the oil companies actually pay back their investors. A new AP story is headlined: “AP IMPACT: Big Oil profits steered to investors.”
Who would have imagined! The horrors of capitalism, again! What is next? Companies meeting unnecessary and wasteful consumer demand? Destroying small businesses by competing against them with ruinously low prices? Developing frivolous new products that promote consumerism? Will the devastation wrought by free markets never stop?
What happened to the wonderful Soviet model when we really need it?
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Greedy
There are greedy people in the oil business. According to www.taxfoundation.org in 2004 the us govt took in over $58 billion in taxes from oil sales. By contrast oil companies took in $42.6 billion. That is a total sales of $100.6 billion. I can't think of many companies that pay more in taxes than they take in profits. If you could give me some examples of companies that do I would like to know. That is around a 60% tax rate. They also point out that this year the us govt will take in around $150 billion in taxes. I understand that the oil companies are greedy, but you may as well mention the us govts greed in the same breath.