Weekly
Mark Cowan “Some people might call that prevarication, not leadership. We disagree. As Machiavelli advised, the prince must imitate the fox as well as the lion.”
White House, we expect action to both mitigate
There is no monolithic business view of the
and delay higher taxes and spending cuts…
fiscal cliff nor are the motives behind even
Congress has already approved a continuing
straightforward prognostications like Gold-
resolution to fund the government into 2013.”
man’s or Morgan’s necessarily what they seem
In fact, Morgan Stanley simply doesn’t think
on the surface. That’s the whole point. Busi-
Congress will implement the automatic cuts.
ness is playing this “crisis” close to its vest in
Somewhere between these two polarized visions, companies like Caterpillar are reducing their current earnings outlooks—a cautious approach
order to maximize its immediate options even as its reassures the marketplace in a way it’s failed to do since 2008.
in line with what GE and others have done in the
Some people might call that prevarication,
bond market—but very judiciously commenting
not leadership. We disagree. As Machiavelli
In this LEVICK Daily video interview, we look at the CFIUS (Committee on Foreign Investment in
that, as Chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman
advised, the prince must imitate the fox as
the United States) process with Mark Cowan, Senior Executive Vice President for International
put it, “We’re not expecting rapid growth, and
well as the lion. L
Business with Cassidy & Associates. When foreign companies consider transactions that could po-
we’re not predicting a global recession.” Hardly the sentiments of a man who expects to fall off a fiscal cliff. To the contrary, like GE (which also trimmed its 2012 forecast), Caterpillar says it expects next year to look very much like this year: the tone is neither Goldman Sachs’ dire anxiety nor Morgan Stanley’s glib assuredness.
08
on CFIUS Review
Richard S. Levick, Esq., President and CEO of LEVICK, represents countries and companies in the highest-stakes global communications matters—from the Wall Street crisis and the Gulf oil spill to Guantanamo Bay and the Catholic Church.
tentially impact national security, it is always best to initiate the CFIUS application process as early as possible so problems can be addressed before they damage the brand.