Comments on: I don’t care how much Exxon makes per second!

By: michele

michele — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:57:08 +0000

I don’t have a problem with a company making a profit. That is the way of business. I don’t even have a problem with a company making an obscene profit, if that company is not taking govt subsidies, fighting the already less than fair settlements for putting thousands of people out of business in Alaska, destroying the environment, and lobbying endlessly to turn driving a car into a necessity instead of a transportation choice.

I don’t have a choice of taking a train or using public transportation, because there are no trains or buses where I live. They went out of business years ago.

By: mbhunter

mbhunter — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 01:16:02 +0000

Another issue is that everyone (save a few) in the country gets exactly one vote. There are way more strapped Americans than there are oil executives, so the math is pretty clear there.

By: Moneymonk

Moneymonk — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:54:20 +0000

I would not mind being a shareholder

By: deepali

deepali — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:38:46 +0000

@ Mo Money – Standard Oil is the reason why we have antitrust laws (and why Exxon exists today). I think America just hates on anyone with too large a market share (and profits).

Great book on this, by the way – The Prize.

Re: the government getting more $$ than the oil company. At least you get something back from the government (or do you not drive on roads?). You aren’t getting much back from Exxon. So the analogy doesn’t quite work…

By: Model dlya sborki

Model dlya sborki — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:47:18 +0000

On contrast I found it is very interesting, that slowly but surely we are going to scenarion
with Standard oil and monopoly. The price will stay and people pay extra to Big Oil. Time to invest!

By: MatchesMalone

MatchesMalone — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:35:14 +0000

Also, good for the UAE for researching alternatives. If one of those turns out to be viable and makes them a killing I’ll be happy for them. If Exxon makes the boat by not thinking about the future, so be it. But that is not YOUR decision to make. I wouldn’t dare tell you how to spend your money, or the money that belongs to a business you started.

If they turn out to be wrong by focusing so much of their efforts on oil, it will hurt them in the long run. They don’t need you telling them how to run their company in the meantime.

By: MatchesMalone

MatchesMalone — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:31:06 +0000

@Greener Pastures,

Why don’t we take some of YOUR extra money for alternative energies. We shouldn’t take your money any more than we should take a private business’s like Exxon. Remember that Exxon is a company made up of people. That 11 billion doesn’t just go into the pockets of one guy while he sits in his board room laughing. It serves to keep the company going and provide income for the hundreds of thousands of people they employ from all walks of life. Not to mention how many people own stock in the company. Exxon has historically given out its profits as dividends, which go to such villians as retirees living on a fixed income. You would take that away from them out of spite.

There is no alternative to oil that is ready for mass market. It will easily be 10-25 years before we are able to power our cars off of magic fusion or whatever the new technology turns out to be. In the meantime, we might as well be using our own oil rather than buying it from the middle east.

Besides, XOM’s profit margin is a whopping 8%. That is pretty low. Investing over 140 billion dollars and only making 11 is hardly excessive.

By: Hayden Tompkins

Hayden Tompkins — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:59:10 +0000

I think the point, however, is that they are heavily subsidized and reap buku tax benefits. I didn’t hate on Microsoft in the 90′s, but then again, my tax dollars weren’t being used to help them out either.

By: "Mo" Money

"Mo" Money — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:36:51 +0000

I agree with you completely. I wonder if the Carnegie and Rockefeller companies were defiled like the Exxon is now. I think we get too much news, and the media is trying to sell us the news instead of reporting the news. The reports I read say that the government collects more money per gallon of gas than the oil companies. So if that is true shouldn’t we be mad at our government. Oh wait, I am mad at the government.

By: deepali

deepali — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:39:42 +0000

I’m not sure that rising gas prices contribute to Exxon’s profits so much as their cutting corners in production. I think Exxon funds alt energy research at a lower rate than other oil companies, which is too bad for them, because oil is not the future. But survival of the fittest and all that.

My issue with Exxon has more to do with environmental destruction and social injustice. Profit is tied up with that, because that’s where it comes from.

But I don’t see why it is ok to criticize Microsoft for absurd profit margins, and not ok to criticize Exxon…?