Multinational Corporations extols the virtues of multinationals and rebuts many of the less-penetrating criticisms leveled against them. Its authors believe that “The international corporations since the 1950s have become the most important vehicle for developing an economic system based on a more rational allocation of resources than has been the case in the past. It has also helped the development of resources in the developing nations” (pp. 39-40).
Most of the book analyzes current policy issues for the United States. Successive chapters treat the AFL-CIO complaint that multinational corporation expansion has cost its membership jobs; the effect of technology transfer on competitiveness of exports; technical aspects of international taxation; and the effect of foreign investment on the U.S. balance of payments. These chapters rely heavily on official sources—Congressional hearings, labor union and corporation reports— and deal extensively with the now-shelved Burke-Hartke bill. Hence, one readily accepts the authors’ startling prediction that their book “is likely to be out of date next year” (p. 7).
There is little attention to the impact of multinationals in Latin America, or developing countries in general. However, Mexico and the Andean countries are frequently cited to support the argument that effective regulation by host countries is possible. More interestingly, the authors recast the familiar challenge of multinationals to national sovereignty in a new light: “is it not better to regard the efforts of multinational firms and banks as a step in the right direction, as a beginning along economic and commercial lines, to forge a world free of frontiers where men from diverse nations can work together for common goals?” (p. 275). The authors fail to question whether such common goals would truly promote welfare, but they do successfully challenge the common view that more effective regulation by existing governments is the key to a better future.
