Month: September 2012

In this article by The Economist, the merger plan by (the more civilian focused) EADS and (the more military focused) BAE could lead to “consolidation in the defence industry.” As the article notes, in the 1990’s there was a plan to merge all of Europe’s defence companies into one that was capable of competing with the massive American military-industrial complex; BAE opted out at the time, but with this new merger the european aerospace industry could taken over by one industrial giant. The reason this business decision could have a massive impact on current foreign policy, is the fact that many countries-such as Germany, France and Spain- have stakes in EADS, also other countries- America and Saudi Arabia- have sensitive defence contracts with BAE. With this massive merger at hand the other” European firms left out of the deal… will be actually worried about being left behind.” The consolidation of the defence industry could also consolidate global peace between the countries who have stakes in these massive corporations, so is this the beginning of a new age of peace or could this forming oligopoly be trouble on the horizon?

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The ever famous Victoria’s Secret, a subsidiary of Limited Brands, came under fire at the beginning of this year after allegations that the cotton it uses to make lingerie is produced using slave labour. Victoria’s Secret purchased its cotton, which was certified by Fairtrade International to be fair-trade cotton, from the Central African country of Burkina Faso. After the story of a child who had died while picking cotton for Burkina Faso’s cotton industry broke, the media corporation, Bloomberg L.P., reported that it had confirmed through “several sources… that the surviving child [from that family] picks cotton for Burkina Faso’s fair-trade organic program.” Victoria’s Secret claimed to not know that their cotton was picked by child labourers who were “kept out of school and forced to work.” To be fair though, the cotton was confirmed to be fair trade by Fairtrade International and Victoria’s Secret did not operate the cotton farms. The question comes down to whether or not it is a companies responsibility to ensure their suppliers operate in an ethical manner.

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