Pfizer-Allergan Merger

On November 23 of this year, American pharmaceutical powerhouse, Pfizer, announced its plan to perform a merger with the Irish pharmaceutical company, Allergan, creating the conglomerate corporation of Pfizer, plc. This merge is set to be worth approximately $160 billion and will be the third largest merger in history and the single largest pharmaceutical endeavor ever. The new company will establish its shared headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, a country with much lower corporate taxes than those in the States. Though the tax evasion method being used in this situation is not illegal, it is immoral because the express purpose of the merger and moving the company to Ireland is to pad the pockets of the stockholders. Making more money for your stockholders is, in itself, far from morally corrupt, but the means by which it is being accomplished in this case, i.e., pulling billions of dollars out of the US economy, is what makes this such an issue. In an application of the stakeholder theory wherein the stockholders and investors are the most important shareholders, the action is ethically justifiable since it is being done to forward their interests. Furthermore, it can also be claimed that the lessened tax burden on the company(ies) will allow for more funding to go into the research and development of new drugs. However, in spite of those benefits, the obvious deficit will manifest in terms of the lack of tax revenue being taken in by the US government, tax revenue which could very well be used to fund various social programs and infrastructure innovation and renovation throughout the country. This move is, essentially, just selfish and shortsighted and takes billions of dollars away from the masses and programs which would benefit millions and funnels it into the hands of a select few. If everything goes according to plan, by the middle of next year, the ramifications of this merger will begin truly coming to pass. We will just have to wait and see.