That is certainly not an argument that IBM's actions are not "hurting America"

But if IBM doesn't "hurt America", it will "hurt the world".

I would suspect that many Americans would be willing to make such a sacrifice.

There's a big difference between "hurting America" and "hurting Americans".

Maximizing societal value may mean moving industry to places where the government is less of an impediment to efficient value creation. In the long (and usually, short) run, that's good for people. But it may mean that American jobs move to India, and American workers can a) follow their jobs, b) create new jobs by starting a new company in America (and deal with whatever caused their old job to leave), or c) whine and moan until someone gives them a handout.

Move, build, or cry about it. Doesn't sound like anyone's really being hurt. It's not like IBM is stabbing their workers, they're just telling them that they can work somewhere else, or get another job. Seems fair enough to me.

> "Maximizing societal value may mean moving industry to places where the government is less of an impediment to efficient value creation."

Sure. Because after all, China is a paragon of good government.