Coca Cola CEO Muhtar Kent gave an interview to the Financial Times that outlined his, and thereby Coca Cola's, thoughts on recent world developments. The U.S. is no longer business-friendly enough for the Atlanta-based multi-national, due to high rates of tax on overseas income (maybe they should hire GE's accountants), the current economic situation (referred to by optimists as "dire") and the political instability generated by children in Washington D.C. also contribute to Kent's skittishness on American prospects. Which nations would Kent prefer his corporation be a part of? The corporation which this Fox News article praises as "All-American"?
China and Russia.
It might take a moment to sink in. Coca-Cola loves the business environment fostered by China and Russia, so much so that the company plans on investing $3 billion into their Russian operations. Apparently in these countries, "you see the kind of attention to detail about how business works and how business creates employment". China certainly knows how to create a pro-business environment. They definitely know how to balance corporate needs with labor conditions that just scream All-American. Their political system certainly echos American values as well. Russia, on the other hand, is a country that traded a corrupt, oppressive, inefficient Communist bureaucracy for a corrupt, oppressive, economically dynamic mafiocracy run by il capo Vladimir Putin. They definitely know how to make the place friendly for anyone offering money, and lots of it.
So there you have it. "All-American" Coca-Cola prefers to do business in countries unencumbered by petty things like "political freedom", "worker's rights", and "corporate taxes". It's just easier, you know?
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