CEO Sees Dismal Economy (Bunch of Whiners!)

July 15, 2008 3:00am by

CEOs portray a gloomy forecast for the US Economy, according to a new survey by Chief Executive Magazine:

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

What's been said:

Discussions found on the web:
  3. cabler commented on Jul 15

    As a class, less regulation is what they always want! They got sick from eating too much cake and they only want more! This is more Shock Doctrine stuff – created the crisis and then use it to break what little oversight exists.

  4. Paul Jones commented on Jul 15

    American workers can’t compete with unlimited cheap labor and still have a middle class standard of living.

    I want these CEOs to study French history circa 1791.

  5. Jack Cantor commented on Jul 15

    It’s obvious that American CEOs reflect American society as a whole. Americans want and believe in certain things but then vote completely in contrast to these issues. I’ll bet the majority of these CEOs probably contributed money to Hillary Mcbama too, defeating all of their own beliefs and desires. Stop complaining about Washington D.C., you have only yourself to blame!

  6. Jojo commented on Jul 15

    Puhleeeeze…

    So CEO’s want the government to:
    – Remove corporate taxes
    – Reduce regulation
    – Improve education
    – Reduce trade restrictions

    “Trust us” they say and everything will work out. China is mentioned as an apparent good example. They complain that politicians don’t listen to them.

    Well I’ve got a good idea for these CEO’s: If they like the regulatory and business environment in China so much, why don’t they move there?

    Last I heard, corporate taxes were only 8% of taxes collected, near if not the lowest amount in history.

    And I am always curious about these calls for better education. What exactly are they referring to and whom are they referring to? There are plenty of well educated OLDER workers out-of-work who can do anything the supposedly better educated foreign workers can. But perhaps what they are really looking for is only younger workers who will work for less $$ and it is this group that is not educated well enough?

  7. roger commented on Jul 15

    Most CEO’s have been negative since August? Really?
    Funny, most of them on my TV having been saying since August its just a general slow down, not a Recession and it doesn’t effect their company so much, but second half of 2008 will see a pick up. Maybe I have just seen all the positive ones?
    As a group they want lower Corporate Taxes? and less regulation? He forgot to mention higher pay for the CEO’s too.

  8. john_doe commented on Jul 15

    I’m glad you brought this up BR. Hasn’t this administration been the most business friendly
    since Calvin Coolidge? Coolidge coin the phrase “what’s good for business is good for America”. Coolidge was responsible for the ’29 market crash, while Hoover’s policy led to a Depression. Jorge Coolidge cut corp taxes, upper income taxes, ran huge deficits/spending programs…. and this is what we got… corruption, fraud, and disaster…. Jorge does not understand that free markets DO NOT WORK. Regulated markets that promote “PERFECT COMPETITION” is the best market…. Free markets lead to monopolies, oligopolies, and all kinds of inefficiencies…..as witnessed by the record M&A activity the last few years…

    Now these Phil Gramm whiners want more tax cuts, less regulation, and more free trade. Didn’t these things bring us here? Didn’t Bush give them exactly what they asked for?

    WE need a balanced Budget, stronger dollar, and policies that promote business competition…. The Bush era was the era of large corporations ruining the country…..
    Jorge Coolidge’s stock market crash just in time for the baby boomer’s retirement… Enjoyed watching Jorge sweat yesterday as the markets tanked….

    $$$ Sheik

  9. BobC commented on Jul 15

    I would like to know what percentage of the CEOs in this survey were from multinationals v.s. smaller, mostly national companies. The “solution” sounded like Republican talking points. Much as I hate taxes, the unbalanced budget and rampant deficit spending trouble me.

  10. Mark E Hoffer commented on Jul 15

    $$$ sheik,

    to harken back to GG from ‘Wall Street’, “You’re not Naive enough to believe we live in a Free Market..(are you?)”

    luckily, there’s, an antidote, still freely available, for your Malaise..

    http://www.mises.org

  11. dot venditto commented on Jul 15

    I’m thinking about a reverse mortgage. Is this a good time? I’m 71 and my houae is fully paid and I have no income other than social security which is $1,328.

  12. Troy commented on Jul 15

    How about cutting their pay and increasing their taxes individually, these are well connected people in a different world the majority of Corporations carry huge debt much larger than what they are worth. Most of them are financially inept they get caught up in their own ego’s.

  14. yahright commented on Jul 15

    the presented “CEO perspective” seems to give all the freedoms of the world to them. As a worker, I also believe that I create jobs and shouldn’t have to pay taxes either.

Posted Under