[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help] 

Status: Not Logged In; Sign In

Attack of the Dead-2025.

Canada strips Jewish National Fund of charitable status

Minnesota State Rep. Vang just admitted that she is an ILLEGAL ALIEN.

1100% increase in neurological events since the roll-out of Covid mRNA

16 Things That Everyone Needs To Know About Violent Far-Left Revolution In Los Angeles

Undercover video in Arizona alleges ongoing consumer fraud by Fairlife

Dozens arrested after San Francisco protest turns violent Sunday

Looking for the toughest badasses in the city (Los Angeles)

Democrat Civil War Explodes: DNC Chair Threatens to Quit Over David Hogg

Invaders waving Mexican flags, pour onto the 101 Freeway in Los Angeles

Australian Fake News Journo Hit By Rubber Bullet In L.A. Riot

22-year-old dies after being unable to afford asthma inhaler

North Korean Bulsae-4 Long-Range ATGM Spotted Again In Russian Operation Zone

Alexander Dugin: A real Maidan has begun in Los Angeles

State Department Weighing $500 Million Grant to Controversial Gaza Aid Group: Report

LA Mayor Karen Bass ordered LAPD to stand down, blocked aid to federal officers during riots.

Russia Has a Titanium Submarine That Can ‘Deep Dive’ 19,700 Feet

Shocking scene as DC preps for Tr*mp's military birthday parade.

Earth is being Pulled Apart by Crazy Space Weather! Volcanoes go NUTS as Plasma RUNS OUT

Gavin, feel free to use this as a campaign ad in 2028.

US To Formalize Military Presence in Syria in Deal With al-Qaeda-Linked Govt

GOP Rep Introduces Resolution Labeling Free Palestine Slogan as Anti-Semitism

Two-thirds of troops who left the military in 2023 were at risk for mental health conditions

UK and France abandon plans to recognise Palestinian state at conference

Kamala Backs LA Protests After Rioters Attack Federal Officers

Netanyahu's ultra-Orthodox partners move ahead with Knesset dissolution plan

Former Prime Minister of Ukraine: Zelensky will leave the country

Man protesting Paramount ICE raid added to FBI's Most Wanted

JUAN O SAVIN- The Plan to Capture America

US Manufacturing By State: Who Gains Most From 'Made In America'?


Neocon Nuttery
See other Neocon Nuttery Articles

Title: Selling America to Arabia one bank at a time
Source: www.bloggingstocks.com
URL Source: http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/ ... -to-arabia-one-bank-at-a-time/
Published: Jan 20, 2008
Author: Peter Cohan
Post Date: 2008-01-20 16:34:31 by Ferret Mike
Keywords: None
Views: 197
Comments: 2

You know that an economic issue has jumped the shark when the New York Times's op-editoraliste Maureen Dowd (MoDo) devotes her Sunday column to it. What's unleashed MoDo's moxie is how Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) -- those government investment funds estimated to control between $2 trillion and $15 trillion -- are buying up chunks of the U.S. banking system.

The problem against which MoDo rails is that thanks to the policies of George W. Bush, the price of oil has quadrupled and the dollar has plummeted -- thus putting the U.S. at the mercy of those Arabian SWFs whose owners he groveled to this week to lower the price of oil. And while W. was grovelling, so were the CEOs of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) and Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER) -- seeking capital to shore up their Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO)-tarnished balance sheets. MoDo is right that with Bush's $2.4 trillion worth of wars and $1.3 trillion worth of tax cuts, the U.S. has gone from being the world's creditor to its debtor.

But another New York Times article sheds more light on the phenomenon of foreign investment in the U.S. -- suggesting that with their $414 billion worth of 2007 purchases in the U.S., foreign investors, including SWFs, spent a record amount of money buying up the U.S. last year -- up 90% from 2006. The Times suggests that this foreign investment comes in different forms -- some of which are beneficial. How so?

Higher paying jobs. Investment in the American subsidiaries of foreign companies grew to $43.3 billion last year from $39.2 billion. Bush's deputy Treasury secretary, Robert M. Kimmitt, claims five million Americans now work for foreign companies set up in the U.S. and those jobs pay 30% more than similar work at domestic companies. If this is true, I'd say it's a good thing. But given the absence of those Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), the Bush administration's credibility is not at peak levels in my mind.

Most foreign investment comes from relatively 'friendly' countries. Canada still spends the most money buying stakes in American companies -- more than $65 billion in 2007. South Korea's investments totaled $10.4 billion last year, up from just $5.4 million in 2000. But countries at odds with U.S. values are coming on strong -- Russia went to $572 million in 2007 from $60 million in 2000.

The bank buying SWFs account for $21 billion of 2007's total. At the center of concern is the growing influence of SWFs, which invested $21.5 billion in American companies in 2007. For some reason, the level of outrage about selling U.S. banks to countries like Saudi Arabia -- which accounted for 15 of 19 9/11 hijackers -- is mild compared to the firestorm that resulted from the proposed sale of port manager, DPWorld, to the United Arab Emirates in 2005.

I believe that the U.S. economy is at risk if these foreign investors use the power of their capital to sway U.S. policy in a way that weakens us politically or economically. At this point, it seems to me that the conditions that make those foreign investments possible -- quadrupled oil prices, a 60% lower dollar, and the debt-laden U.S. government and consumer sectors -- are more threatening to our future than the foreign investment itself.

I don't derive comfort from Bush administration assurances that this foreign investment is benign. And I think Americans need to know more about the terms of these SWF investments and how these investors might use the power of their capital to achieve their ends.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He owns Citigroup stock and has no financial interest in Merrill Lynch.

Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread  


TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest

#1. To: Ferret Mike (#0)

Wages in the U.S. peaked in 1973. Until then, they were going up at a 45-degree angle. Had they continued to rise, the average salary would probably be about $80,000 a year.

Instead they've been flat since '73, and since that time the government has sent trillions of dollars of our wealth to the Third Worlders of Arabia, India and China -- countries that are now utterly dependent on us, otherwise they'd still be mired in the poverty that has been their birthright for thousands of years.

Countries have no friends, only temporary and changing interest. Arming our enemies -- unbelievable.

Please don't give me any nonsense about conspiracies. That's for children.

Kittens aren't biscuits just because a cat gives birth in an oven.

YertleTurtle  posted on  2008-01-20   17:34:52 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: YertleTurtle (#1)

"Please don't give me any nonsense about conspiracies. That's for children."

Glad that reassures you. I know better.

Ferret Mike  posted on  2008-01-20   17:42:23 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest


[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help]