Two major US arms-makers, Raytheon and United Technologies, have announced on Monday that they have agreed to a merger. The combined company is to be called Raytheon Technologies.
Both companies are extremely influential, and combined will be the
second-largest maker of military equipment, with $74 billion in annual
sales. President Trump has expressed concern that the merged company would be less competitive, and too powerful.
Raytheon CEO Tom Kennedy downplayed this, saying that the two companies
are mostly not competitive with one another in the first place, and will
benefit from being able to combine their complementary technologies
going forward.
Suggesting that the existing US arms market is any sort of level playing
field that the merger might put at risk is going to be difficult in its
own right. This week alone Congress is investigating a sacked State Department official, and former Raytheon lobbyist,
for pushing through billions of dollars in Raytheon exports while at
the State Department, and pushing the administration to bypass
Congressional oversight that might threaten those sales.
It seems hard to argue, indeed, that the merger might make these huge
companies any more influential, as they already dominate the halls of
power in great measure. With the administration obsessed with growing
arms exports, parts of the government already work as de facto sales
teams for these companies, and it’s hard to imagine, even if some
officials have qualms, that they don’t have more than enough influence
to push through a merger above any real objections.
I have heard that the merger is to give Raytheon the expertise in space. UT iis producing Russian rocket engine on license. As
Space-X Crew Dragon and Boeing’s Dreamliner are. In trouble — and the date for being able to produce US version of heavy lift engine and transporting astronauts into space has been pushed again. Last time US out astronaut in space was 2011. UT worked with Boeing on space launches. But given Boeing problems and Space-X problems, an opening for Rayatheon.
Let us not give up before trying to stop something bad because it could be hard. Perhaps we should focus on how astounding it is that even Trump who has been such a cheerleader for weapons sales everywhere is saying this is too anti-competitive. What a great chance this is to unite behind Trump when he’s actually saying the right things. The crazier this gets, the more obvious the craziness is to everyone.
Yeah, let’s unite behind the guy who’s declaring fake emergencies to circumvent even the modicum of oversight that Congress has so that he can abuse the office to sell arms and, even better, arms technology to his personal friends and personal business partners overseas, the Saudis.
Plenty of stuff Trump does stinks, and to a great degree that makes him a divider instead of a uniter. All the more reason to notice when he does something appropriate and correct.
It would be far easier to never give a contract to one big death merchant than to two smaller ones….but sadly that will never happen.
Remember the good old days of antitrust laws and restrictions on such mergers? a bit like the “Fairness Doctrine” of media, where alternative points of view appeared, until Reagan got rid of it in 1987.