I think it's a completely good thing to want to do business, to want to make money and be a success in the marketplace, to get the attention of customers. I'm not in the business of pointing fingers or blaming companies, but there is a limit to everything.
The list of plane reservations I keep on my phone - it's very, very, very long.
It's my impression that investment in Europe is done for the right reasons. Europe is a very good place to do business; it's a large market.
My parents didn't do office hours, and they did not do vacations, so if you had a problem, you could always come around. I watched them and thought, 'OK, this is what you are supposed to do.' I was very engaged in my local primary school and when I went to secondary school and to university. And one thing led to another, and here I am.
Most politicians are either generalists or specialists. It's very rare that a politician is both.
If you're successful in the market, it should be because you have the best products. Then your customers like you, not because then you cut corners, or you get a tax break, or you don't inform authorities about how things actually are.
If you, as a company, can get a deal that I, as a company, cannot get, you can compete with me but not on the merits, because your tax burden is not the same as mine.
If you're in a situation where your effective tax rate is so much lower than any other company, then obviously you have a much better position when it comes to compete on prices and everything else.
A huge part of Apple profits generated in Europe, in African countries, Middle East, and India were all booked in Ireland. And I think it is a very basic principle in taxation that your profits are taxed where the profits are generated.
The benefits of globalization do not trickle down automatically. It takes politics to make sure that there is a benefit.
