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GE to give back $87 million it got from the state because it no longer plans an ambitious Fort Point headquarters
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I love a good laugh out loud headline
Great work Chuck and Marty! Maybe they can use the money on an Amazon redo? Oh, wait, they just opted to pull out of NYC and conveniently halve their HQ2 commitment in the process.
Are we ready to elect leadership with vision instead of delusion yet?
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And you saw the decline of GE coming?
I will proudly say that local government did have the wherewithal to structure the deal so that we were not completely hosed when things went south.
Sometimes things work out and sometimes they don't. There are cities across the country with taxpayer funded stadia sitting empty when the franchises for which they were built decided to move, or to get another jurisdiction in the area to build them a newer, shinier stadium. Boston does not have that.
Do you or Marty still think...
Jack Welch is the CEO of a huge holding company? GE has been in decline for over a decade.
happiest person in Boston:
Jack Welch's first wife? She got out when GE was more valuable.
Ummm
The city was never going to recoup $87 million in tax revenue and economic spending.
But it did recoup the $87 million
Look at the title of this article.
Other than that, we are talking theoreticals. Was the Liberty Mutual tax break a good idea? I think that can be quantified.
Yes
Former GE Employee. So yea, I saw this coming.
Question
What was the original cause of the decline before the hits kept coming?
Keep it Simple, Stupid.
The diversity of their product offering go too large. They were not able to keep up the quality in all 10s of offerings than what they are able to offer in say airplane engines. This especially ran true when they began dealing with healthcare as a service offering, not a product. They should stick to what they do best, and do it to the optimal performance.
Not all baseball players are like Mookie and can bowl in professional leagues or had offerings to play basketball in college; specialization is healthy for business productivity.
My understanding
At least the original HUGE financial hit was due to actuarial and accounting errors from their Long Term Care insurance business, without which they are still hurting but probably a $25-$30 stock instead of a $10 stock. The point is - anyone that "saw this coming" and didn't figure out how to short the living crap out of the stock is full of crap. Buy since this problem was invisible even to the executives at least based on what we know so far - nobody "saw this coming".
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That's funny
When it was announced, I don't recall any of the reporters at the Globe, Herald, or the TV media noting that GE was a failing company. The only thing I remember was people questioning giving out the tax breaks to a wealthy company. That would seem to be a far cry from the masses knowing that GE would be shedding employees and business to the level it did.
But feel free to cite some circa January 2016 articles that note that GE is a failing company. I look forward to reading them.
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Nope
GE existed before Welch, and it existed 15 years after that article was published, as it still exists today, 18 years later.
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Bad analogy
Roth was the man with Van Halen, but there was no one before him. GE was a blue chip company before Welch was born. That Van Halen was able to do anything in the Hagar era shows that GE’s death did not happen when Welch retired.
So...
Per my post above - you now own your own archipelago of islands?
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The decline of GE
Has been fairly well known since Jack Welch retired. And the decline of GE is because of a lot of the stock price oriented decisions that lacked any sort of strategy or vision whatsoever that were made under Jack.
I'm hopeful they will turn it around.
Nor does the mayor realize the FP Channel is an open sewer
On certain days the Gillette discharge odor can knock you off your feet
Great timing!
2-14-19.
Could not be funnier.
When Will Mayors Learn
It's been proven that corporate tax breaks for HQ buildings and municipal funding for sports stadiums are two of the lowest return scams that cities can fall for.
It's great for Mayors, it's bad for citizens
The Mayors get invited to box seats at sports stadiums, get to throw out first pitches, get to host parades, hob knob with rich owners and bask in the glow of success.
The citizens pay for it. Less money for schools, roads, public transportation, etc.
When will the Citizen's Learn???
Never
Elect him again, you jerks. Just like you did with Menino.
It has?
Where's the proof?
Marty must be so ashamed
Maybe tonight the Mayor can talk a long walk in the desolate, decaying waterfront and dream of what could have been had only GE accepted his money.
When he gets cold it will be a quick drive home. With Boston shrinking workforce it's not like the roads are crowded.
Ashamed?
The city just got $87 million in tax breaks back. Why would he be ashamed?
It's a joke
Although he really should be ashamed for offering up a single penny when Boston obviously has no problem attracting major employers to the city.
Even as stupid, pointless tax breaks go, GE was always a bad investment. The company is not the powerhouse it was decades ago. Their troubles are nothing new.
The job of any mayor in the US
Is to attract business (amongst other jobs, like making sure public safety is taken care of.) If Boston were fleeced out of the $87 million, I'd see the point of the haters, but it looks like the deal was structured to reduce the city's liability. I'd once again say "job well done."
How about opportunity cost?
How much time, effort, and expense was spent courting GE and creating the proposal to get them to move their HQ to Boston? What might other businesses have done with those tax break incentives? Was giving them to GE really the best use of the budget, even if we eventually got them back?
Opportunity cost?
That would mean that Boston is as misguided as any of the hundreds of cities across the US that spent time, effort, and expense courting Amazon.
Since we have the $87 million (or more likely are not out the $87 million set aside) we can now go out and court other businesses. That's what cities across the country do.
An Excellent Corporate Citizen
GE is being an excellent corporate citizen, they're doing the right thing by reimbursing the state.
Not so fast
They still haven't paid for their toxic waste damage to the Houstatonic River or the mess they left behind in Lynn.
Hey Swirls!
My father (deceased) worked for GE for 35 years and retired from that company. He worked at West Lynn (Federal Street, for their GE-TAC operation) and then went to GE Aerospace (Fordham Road, Wilmington (which is now Ametek)) when GE/Federal Street ceased operations. The River Works facility (GE Aviation), which was separate from the West Lynn operation, is still in business, BTW. I'm not aware of any "mess" that GE left behind in Lynn.
I'm damn proud that my father worked for GE, his job and that company provided for us.
I will never speak ill of, or disparage GE.
Good for your Dad
I'm glad that he had a great career.
But do you want to pay for the damage that GE did to the Houstatonic River? Do you think taxpayers should pay to clean up these dangerously toxic messes that GE left behind just because your dad was happy?
As a taxpayer, I want GE to pay every goddamn dime that it takes to clean up what they illegally dumped. https://www.epa.gov/ge-housatonic/cleaning-housatonic
The Housatonic doesn’t pass near Lynn
It’s out in the Berkshires.
You moved the goalposts about 120 miles.
You need to read better
I mentioned LYNN as a SECOND SITE IN MA that GE messed up.
I said, above "They still haven't paid for their toxic waste damage to the Houstatonic River or the mess they left behind in Lynn."
If you can't sort that out you might want to update your glasses.
I'll give you half
But you seemed to try to refute someone's issue with Lynn by bringing up Pittsfield again. Lynn is still a functioning asset to the company, and you have get to show that they are anything but a valued member of the community in Lynn (as opposed to Pittsfield or the communities along the Hudson they polluted.)
You know what?
I'm trying to figure out what in the hell you are going on about.
I know weed is legal now, but take it easy there - you are raving and rambling about shit you made up in your head.
Let's look at the tape
You wrote-
Someone defended GE Lynn, and you snapped back at them, again citing the Housatonic fiasco, but not actually adding to the discussion on Lynn. I believe, when it comes to your assertion on Lynn, "you are raving and rambling about shit you made up in your head."
Look, I know weed is legal now, but you should take it easy with the bud.
Defending GE Lynn
That was me defending GE Lynn, Waquiot. Thanks. :)
Before Swirls gets into another tizzy, she should have a look at that EPA page again.
Specifically, https://www.epa.gov/ge-housatonic/cleaning-housatonic#HowMuchLonger indicates the remediation is substantially complete.
Again, kudos to GE for doing the right thing.
yeah, right
Substantially complete after years of GE stalling, whining, and delaying.
Sorry. Not buying the "good corprorate citizen" propagandistic bullshit mantra here.
Try again with somebody who wasn't born until 2000.
I actually work at the Lynn site
I'd love to know what "mess they left behind".
GE contaminated both Lynn AND the Housatonic
GE was such a sloppy and destructive company they contaminated sites at both ends of the state, But whats a few deaths for higher profits!
Uh, sure, It's out of the goodness of GE's Heart
er...what heart.
I think you mean GE is compelled to give the money back to avoid costly lawsuits that they would inevitably lose. GE, or likely any corporation, doesn't do ANYTHING because it is the "right thing to do".
For example:
1. Even during their wildly "profitable" years they never paid significant income tax.
2. Their shady financial practices contributed to the financial meltdown, then they lied to investors, their employees, and the public about their exposure while it was going on, all the while quietly pocketing taxpayer bailout money.
3. They fought the government for years on paying for their environmental disasters like the Housatonic river PCB pollution.
Source: former GE employee
GE pays taxes
GE paid 2.4 billion in taxes in 2017, 7.4 billion in 2016, 2.5 billion in 2015.
"GE incurred a total federal income tax bill of less than zero"
From 2008-2015.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/business/economy/corporate-tax-report...
In 2016 and 2017 GE also paid no income taxes https://www.stock-analysis-on.net/NYSE/Company/General-Electric-Co/Analy...
Maybe you are trying to move the goal posts to something other than income tax? But since you don't have a source...
I guess you missed where
They paid over $6 billion in 2015, or did that not fit your narrative?
Anyone could pay $0 income tax if they paid double the year before and applied their refund to the following year's taxes.
GE's effective tax rate
'13- 4.2%
'14- 10.3%
'15- 79.2%
'16- -5.1%
'17- 34.6%
https://www.stock-analysis-on.net/NYSE/Company/General-Electric-Co/Analy...
Nope
1 year does not make up for a net BENEFIT for 8 years, including 2015. Or maybe you missed that.
The point is, GE is a corporation engaging in shady financial shenanigans to get out of paying taxes, like all corporations.
This is a win for the state and city
It proves they structured the deals to protect the taxpayer, and followed through as GE started to slow its roll.
It's still overall a win to get a pretty big company's HQ.
Loss for Baker and Walsh
Not a great deal, the "HQ" will have 250 people the article says (eventually). Many companies that are much stronger than GE are based here and have much more than 250 people.
But dont worry, the Baker Globe will still run plenty of glowing articles about Baker and how any minute now hes going to do great, bold things.
Is the "Baker Globe" a
Is the "Baker Globe" a different paper- or just a different edition of the "Warren Globe" I've been picking up the last several months?
Baker Globe extolls how this shows he won again!?!
First Line:
Governor Charlie Baker and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh bet big on General Electric — and just won again.
GE, Amazon, Financial Svcs layoffs..
The economy is soon to tank, take cover ina biggly way! And yes, those who hate Amazon, FB etc, when those fail, everyone fails.. true dat
It’s not quite a failure
Not yet, at least.
They are restructuring. They are getting rid of some businesses that were not seen as vital to the mission of the company (see, television, Rail car manufacturing, and the like). It may work, or it may not. The short of it for Boston is that the expected workforce at headquarters will not be happening. That’s a downside, but the givebacks are the upside.
My source is a YouTube video I saw a few months back. I do own some stock in the company, so I am slightly worried about the future. We’ll see. Stock wise, I am seeing panic.
Boston as 2nd class city in a 2nd world nation?
Considering that the nation is pushing to become a 2nd world nation it makes sense that Boston would bend over for a what apparently is not a 2nd rate holding company.
The governor, the mayor, and lord knows the MBTA, know that transportation from the Seaport to North Station is a farce. The # 4 bus is a solid example of self-destruction. The T claims the 4 has few people riding it but then they allow the line to be a farce by canceling buses or allowing buses to be 30 minutes late.
If this was only Boston then we could say the problem is the MBTA. But public transportation in many US major cities are treated as unwanted step children.
But transportation is fundamental. The digital revolution can not make transportation a secondary concern. Yet regions around the nation continue to maintain public transportation with an attitude of having to maintain the systems instead of seeing transportation as fundamentally health.
If we treat one of the main components of our urban infrastructure as an unwanted child then we condemn ourselves.
Tax credits to massive corporations is moving chairs on the deck of the Titanic if we don't deal with the fundamental weaknesses.
But so long as people such as Trump and McConnell control the national powers the nation is guaranteed to remain 2nd rate and continue devolving into a 2nd world nation.
In the 70s the Soviet Union and China were 2nd world and the US was 1st world. Thanks to the people of the lineage of Reagan and the party of the wealthy the positions are switching.
The #4 bus still exists?
I was looking at the MBTA’s bus schedules from 1982 tonight. The T is much better now than then.
Perhaps the Seaport area would be better served if they ran buses at a high frequency from South Station to the Seaport area, perhaps in a tunnel to make sure they wouldn’t have to face traffic. One could dream, right? They could even give this tunnel bus line a color, like amber or ruddy or some other metallic color.
The Silver Line has plenty of issues
(most notably overcrowding at many times of the day) but the original comment talked about access to North Station.
The private shuttle for businesses operated by the Convention Center Authority runs fairly frequently from the Seaport to North Station, but it is solely for the use of employees of those businesses, while others are not allowed to ride. The 4 is like a fisher cat -- rarely seen.
Until the ferries begin service to North Station later this year (still no word on how much the general public would have to pay) the only other public transit option is to take the aforementioned overcrowded Silver Line to South Station and then make two additional overcrowded transfers to get to North Station (or SL3 --> Airport Station Blue Line --> State Street Orange Line or Govt. Center Green Line --> North Station if you really want to get funky).
Wasn't there a plan to
Wasn't there a plan to consolidate the corporate shuttles and open them to the public?
The corporate shuttles are largely consolidated
and run by Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, but they are NOT available to the general public. Some more information from a Globe story last month on the buses and ferries can be found here.
I can’t figure out
The expectation that the T should have fast, frequent service between North Station and the Seaport. There are means to get from A to B. That Daan relies on the worst choice is on him, not the T.
Ferries will have limited
Ferries will have limited seats for public. Like the private shuttles run by Mass Convention Authority that are just another example of corporate welfare.
This is why it is called
This is why it is called SPECULATION.
Cheers to the greedy who will lose their shirts!!
Market Summary > General
Market Summary > General Electric Company
NYSE: GE
10.04 USD −0.33 (3.18%)
Closed: Feb 15, 8:22 AM EST · Disclaimer
Pre-market 10.09 +0.050 (0.50%)
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