单选题
The world is going through the biggest wave of
mergers and acquisitions ever witnessed. The process sweeps from hyperactive
America to Europe and reaches the emerging countries with unsurpassed might.
Many in these countries are looking at this process and worrying : "Won't the
wave of business concentration turn into an uncontrollable anti-competitive
force?" There's no question that the big are getting bigger and
more powerful. Multinational corporations accounted for less than 20% of
international trade in 1982. Today the figure is more than 25% and growing
rapidly. International affiliates account for a fast growing segment of
production in economies that open up and welcome foreign investment. In
Argentina, for instance, after the reforms of the early 1990s, multinationals
went from 43% to almost 70% of the industrial production of the 200 largest
firms. This phenomenon has created serious concerns over the role of smaller
economic firms, of national businessmen and over the ultimate stability of the
world economy. I believe that the most important forces behind
the massive M & A wave are the same that underlie the globalization process:
falling transportation and communication costs, lower trade and investment
barriers and enlarged markets that require enlarged operations capable of
meeting customers' demands. All these are beneficial, not detrimental, to
consumers. As productivity grows, the world's wealth increases.
Examples of benefits or costs of the current concentration wave are scanty. Yet
it is hard to imagine that the merger of a few oil firms today could recreate
the same threats to competition that were feared nearly a century ago in the
U.S., when the Standard Oil trust was broken up. The mergers of telecom
companies, such as World Corn, hardly seem to bring higher prices for consumers
or a reduction in the pace of technical progress. On the contrary, the price of
communications is coming down fast. In cars, too, concentration is increasing
(witness Daimler and Chrysler, Renault and Nissan) but it does not appear that
consumers are being hurt. Yet the fact remains that the merger
movement must be watched. A few weeks ago, Alan Greenspan warned against the
megamergers in the banking industry. Who is going to supervise, regulate and
operate as lender of last resort with the gigantic banks that are being created?
Won't multinationals shift production from one place to another when a nation
gets too strict about infringements to fair competition? And should one country
take upon itself the role of "defending competition" on issues that affect many
other nations, as in the U. S. vs. Microsoft case?
单选题
What is the typical trend of businesses today?
A. To take in more foreign funds. B. To invest more abroad.
C. To combine and become bigger.D. To trade with more countries.