Outsourcing and Stagnation in the Real Economy: The Apple Connection

'Vampire Squid versus Corporate Galahad? The principal villain in this narrative is Goldman Sachs. The image of this Wall Street denizen has been etched in the public mind by Matt Taibbi’s description of it as “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.”

In this account, the old nemesis of the progressive analysts, the transnational corporation (TNC), slips quietly into the background. Indeed, it is seen as part of the real economy, as the commonly used term “non-financial corporation” implies. In contrast to the investment banks that create fictitious products like derivatives, TNCs are said to create real products like Apple’s nifty iPads and iPhones. While Goldman Sachs is pictured as a vampire squid, Apple is depicted as a corporate Galahad that can be relied on to deliver the consumer’s wildest desires. In one survey, 56 percent of Americans associated nothing negative with Apple.'

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