It's the responsible thing to do for their shareholders if they do not play the same game anyone who owns a Google stock could get their board hanged.

If a company intentionally does something that results in a financial loss they are liable to their investors this is how the market works.

> It's the responsible thing to do for their shareholders

And not just shareholders, but for employees, suppliers and everyone else the company deals with. Companies usually do not sit on the money, they invest it trying to make more money. Usually this investment is on salaries, but can also be on R&D, acquiring other companies, etc...

It always ends up on the fundamental question of who is better to determine how to spend money - the public or private sector.

I think it kinda does.

In fact, it may be considered fiscally irresponsible not to do this. A CFO who wants to pay taxes is a liability, and if you have shares you should want them fired.

I disagree. This feels like short term greed that hurts everyone in the long run.

If the US changed the law so it could collect that tax money, couldn't you equally say that it's the US's short term greed that hurts everyone in the long run? Afterall, it would hurt Google's profits and perhaps how much they can invest in useful new technologies. How do you decided that it's only greedy for Google to get money but not the government? What's the government going to do with it? Fight more wars? House more prison inmates? Pay more social welfare? Are you sure it's going to do something better with the money than Google is?