M&Assholes

David Leonhardt Andrew Ross Sorkin is very young, but I didn't know he was so naive.

Just last week, Paul S. Otellini, chief executive of Intel, said at a dinner at the Aspen Forum of the Technology Policy Institute that “the next big thing will not be invented here. Jobs will not be created here.”

Mr. Otellini has overseen two big acquisitions in the last two weeks — the $7.7 billion takeover of the security software maker McAfee and the $1.4 billion deal for the wireless chip unit of Infineon Technologies. If he is true to his word, those deals will most likely lead to job cuts in the United States, not job creation.

When, when, when, has a merger or acquisition led to job gains? When? Name me one example.

U.S. companies are hoarding cash, perhaps as much as a $ trillion. Their stockholders are demanding that they do something with it -- either return it in the form of dividends or buy something. Executives are choosing the latter. Then eliminating jobs to pay for the acquisition.

Truth is, our betters are better at slashing jobs than they are creating "the next big thing."

UPDATE: "Then," "than," what's the diff?