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What makes them multinational is the scope of their
perations.(7)
They manufacture and sell their products where
it is most profitable, by passing the formal boundaries of states as much
as they can and dealing with the governments of states as little as they
can. Being ?"multinational", they have little loyalty toward any
one country. When their interests conflict with the political interests
of a country, they will always put their business interests first. To them,
political boundaries are irrelevant to the business of selling automobiles
or Coca Cola. The chair of Dow Chemical ?Company once expressed the wish
that he could buy an island owned by no nation, on which to establish
(8) his World Headquarters
so that the corporation could be truly on neutral ground.
Today there is widespread
agreement that multinational corporations will have an important effect
on international relations and world economy. But there is little agreement
on exactly what that effect will be. There are those who see them as benevolent
and those who see them as evil.
Among those who see multinational
corporations as benevolent, many emphasize their importance in helping reduce
the gap between rich countries and poor ones. |
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English
Intensive Reading 
Introduction
