Boeing Is Everything Wrong With American Capitalism | Robert Reich

Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit fraud.

The company's descent reveals everything wrong with American capitalism today.

[fluxcapacitor]

The CEO of Boeing is an accountant. The CEO of AirBus is an aeronautical engineer. Their priorities are clear.

[JosedeJezeus]

Humanity is under attack from Sociopathic Narcissists, in business and in government.

[AgencyScum]

An engineer will build up to a specification. An accountant will build down to a price.

[YahuahBenYahYah.]

They keep killing the engineers whistleblowers.

[Kilo]

The amount of corruption that exists within critical points of our countrys infrastructure is flat out disgusting.

[steveneason]

I was in management at Boeing during the transition. I left in 2012 when there were still a few of the old guard trying to hold the fort. We had gone from asking "How can we do the best job possible?" to "How can we maximize earned income?".

[vonneely]

"Wallstreet types who looked down on the engineers" implies that there exists some kind of person that Wallstreet types *don't* look down on. I assure you, there are none.

[davidpowell]

I worked as a consultant to Boeing and was stunned and shocked at how they "ran" their business. I was removed from the account when I complained to my boss. Don't get me started.

[kyleoates]

Stock buybacks NEVER should have been decriminalized. The ONLY way trickle down theory would have worked is if they had remained criminal like they were prior to Reagan.

[heronimousbrapson]

When you are a company heavily reliant on engineering expertise, it is generally not a good idea to have its senior management comprised mainly of accountants and MBA's.

[dmoriarty]

Yes, Robert, you are correct. It's rotten greed.

[tonyk]

My father was a lifelong Boeing employee and rose to become a senior tech fellow before retiring. He said Boeing didn’t buy McDonald Douglas, but McDonald Douglas bought Boeing. Everything changed with the buyout. He said it just wasn’t the same company anymore.

[brmnyc]

McDonnell ruined Douglas Aircraft. Now McDonnell-Douglas has ruined Boeing.

[Leskeepingitreal]

They don't care anymore about craftsmanship now it's about money for the CEO and executives . In other words corporate greed.

[casbot]

The irony is that it will cost the shareholders of Boeing.... a lot.

[ianbell]

Retired aerospace engineer here. I started working in 1977 as a stress engineer, then a design engineer, flight test engineer and manager. Don’t underestimate the deleterious effect that a merger can have on a company’s core values of engineering excellence. Soon the untalented bean-counters insist that you check the company’s stock price daily. As if that somehow leads to better product. When you start treating creative talented people as warm bodies, replaceable in a heartbeat, you’ve only succeeded in diminishing the value of craftsmanship. As Jacob Bronowski stated in “The Ascent of Man”: “The personal commitment of a man to his skill (craft), the intellectual commitment and the emotional commitment working together as one, has made the ascent on man”. What is currently lacking in the executive suite at Boeing, as well as at many other once fine companies, is the commitment to craft.

Keep up your good works with these postings. I respect and enjoy your thoughts and commentary always.

[jeromefeig]

A company being "penny wise" and pound foolish" hits the top of the list.

[katherinesopranos]

I'm a professional communicator who has worked with the C-Suite of top corporations, including Boeing. I can tell you that this all is not news to me, especially the executives' behaviors. I quit there because I went from being a public relations person to a cover-up artist for senior management, the 787 program and defense programs. And as someone from the inside of major corporations, I can tell you that nothing has changed in their selfish job-preservation behavior. If you want more details, Mr. Reich, please contact me.

[antonstoeckl]

It was probably on one of my first flights Vancouver to Frankfurt around 1979. I ask my seat neighbor why he is traveling from Seattle to Vancouver to fly to FRA. His response: "I am working for Boeing, but I do not fly with Boeing out of Seattle" He has seen already at this time safety issues with Boeing.

[gringogreen]

Just about EVERY US based company in the past 40 years has been doing this. Washington basically let it happen too. This is why living wages have disappeared in that time. Just so the wrong people can make way too much money.🤨