Mexico, Brazil, or Asia. The effect has been to create large areas of regional
and urban decline. The effects are particularly marked in small communities
where the decision of the multinational to close down operations of a major
plant can remove the economic lifeblood of the community. Regional exodus
also creates massive structural unemployment, increasing welfare rolls and
intensifying the fiscal problems faced by governments. The bitter irony is
often that many of these decisions are made not because a particular plant
or set of operations is unprofitable, but because the corporation believes that
it is possible to earn greater profit elsewhere.