[tabtab]

GE decided that playing financial tango is more profitable than manufacturing. Too many US companies become shell-game manipulators rather than shell makers. Maybe that's somehow fine and normal, but it's hard to sleep sound at night knowing the US economy's main product is financial tiddlywinks.

[astrodust]

This has been the end-goal since the 1980s when everyone realized there was way more money to be made in running companies into the ground to sell them off for scrap, raiding pension funds, and securitizing everything.

Why make things when you can just make money?