Some businesses are making plans, firm or contingent, to move out of the country. They anticipate the policies if the incoming Barack Obama administration as being that oppressive!

This would obviously be a desperation move. Leaders of such businesses don’t think they are obligated to wait until they are ruined before taking defensive measures.

Taking that as a given, where are they thinking of going? Some say they intend to move to the Caribbean. They are looking for a place to do business with less oppressive regulation, lower taxes if any, and a welcoming business climate that appreciates what they bring to their countries rather than making them targets for fleecing.

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Of course different businesses are more mobile than others. Those that deal in virtual products can be operated from anywhere on earth. They may as well go to the most conducive locations. Those businesses can be relocated by throwing a switch. Others with more tangible assets and products might have to look more critically at the infrastructure of their new location.

With the advanced communications and transportation facilities now technologically available, it may become attractive for businesses to activate their plans for a quick transfer of activities to different jurisdictions.

If a business is to survive, its operators must be able to see into the future, at least several possible futures, and make plans for each. The Obama administration shows little understanding or appreciation for  private business. And suggesting it will “spread the wealth around” does not encourage businesses that are successful.

It is important to realize that much of what has contributed to our current economic mess was precipitated by government laws and regulations.

For example, banks were required, on pain of fines up to $500,000, to make loans they knew could not be repaid. Whose fault is that?

Automobile business? It was run into the ground by Washington bureaucrats. Those guys, many of whom can’t even drive a car, were telling General Motors, Ford and Chrysler what kind of cars to make.

While some businesses will look to offshore United States territories that offer special deals like Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, or American Samoa, most will prefer to be physically near but jurisdictionally distinct from U.S. reach.

This could represent a huge opportunity for Mexico if it had not become a narco-nation. If Mexico welcomed gringo capitalists, it could attract a vast number of businesses from the United States. But Mexico is not quite a place of refuge today.

There are groups of physicians who have taken options on buildings they thought suitable for medical practice just across the street in Mexico. If private practice is threatened by universal health care here, they could open up in Mexico where malpractice insurance and most other necessities are much less expensive. There, Americans (and Canadians) could find First World quality private medical care provided by American doctors. And health insurers are thinking about this market.

Good businesses, businesses that will survive, make contingency plans for all sorts of eventualities. Obama has scared more businesses than you may realize into reviewing their plans for foreign refuge.

When Obama moves into the White House, many businesses may quietly start to move out.

Contact Lionel Waxman at territorial@waxmanmedia.com or visit his website: www.waxmanmedia.com. Lionel Waxman’s Flashpoint commentaries are published in The Daily Territorial.