sirenianshores

In a move that should surprise no one, Haliburton have relocated their corporate HQ from Texas to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Haliburton is the same company that Dick Cheney was once vice president of. Last year the company earned $2.3B in profits, mostly coming from the US taxpayer. It’s a pretty sweet deal: the US government blows stuff up in the Middle East, then companies like Haliburton come along and help rebuild it at a tidy profit. Now the profits can be even greater courtesy of Dubai’s business friendly tax laws.

Of course American companies have based their operations abroad for years to take advantage of generous tax breaks. Ireland is a prime example of that.

But I have to laugh at the spin Haliburton put out about ‘helping the troops’, as if what they are doing is more about patriotism and less about making a fast buck at the US tax payers expense. The folks in the White House practically shovelled the no-bid contracts at them, and this is what they get in return. They claim that moving their HQ to the Middle East is to enable them to get closer to their main source of business, but that could easily be achieved by simply opening a branch office.

Haliburton are entitled to do whatever they think is best for their business. But they shouldn’t expect any more handouts from the US government for very little in return.

I think if it were more profitable to do so, Haliburton would help out America’s enemies. Oh wait, it looks like they have already tried to do just that. No doubt Karl Marx would marvel at the ability of US companies to sell rope to their own country’s hangman.