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Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Selling Out - $1.3 Trillion of American Companies Sold to Foreign Corps
EconomyInCrises.org

Buying Us Out With Our Own Money

As former Assistant Treasury Secretary under President Reagan, Paul Craig Roberts writes, the "result of many years of persistent trade surpluses with the United States, many foreign countries have acquired extensive dollar reserves. For example, the Japanese government holds dollar reserves of $1 Trillion. China's accumulation of dollars is approximately $600 Billion. South Korea holds about $200 Billion."

These dollars are returning to this country to buy us out and to exert influence over our ability to control our future.

However, at our current rate of trade and budget deficits, foreigners need to purchase $2 billion in dollar-denominated assets each day just to keep the dollar stable, said Axel Merk, who manages $60 million at Merk Investments and runs the Merk Hard Currency Fund.

The following staggering amount of our wealth producing companies has been sold to foreign owners in the 10 years from 1995 through 2005. Below is a partial list of the 8,600 U.S. companies sold.

It is critical to understand that even if these are not all familiar corporate names, they are all very valuable strategic companies with vast amounts of technology, assets, production facilities, tax base, and employment attached to each one. In fact, many of the smallest, most unfamiliar acquisitions represent some of the most significant strategic and proprietary technology losses to this country. Many of these companies took decades, and in some cases generations, to build to their size and scope prior to acquisition. Not only does the US lose control of the assets and technologies of these companies as of the date they were acquired, the US also loses all future profit and title to all future advancements of these companies.

These companies were the means through which America created much of its present wealth. With the loss of these companies and having no comparable replacement, it's easy to see that our future will not be as good as our past, especially since the countries that acquired these companies are now able to compete with us in almost all industries. Why are we doing this? Don't we have alternatives? Who is responsible, demand answers from your congressperson.

The following table lists only a few of the 8,600 foreign acquisitions during this period. The $1.3 Trillion figure and complete list can be verified at the US Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Oil and Gas; Petroleum Refining
Telecommunications

Transportation Equipment

Printing, Publishing, and Allied Services

Mining

Insurance

Electronic and Electrical Equipment

Drugs

Computer and Office Equipment

Machinery

Metal and Metal Products

Investment & Commodity Firms,Dealers,Exchanges

Commercial Banks, Bank Holding Companies
Motion Picture Production and Distribution

Chemicals and Allied Products
Rubber and Miscellaneous Plastic Products

Food and Kindred Products

Credit Institutions
Electric, Gas, and Water Distribution

Business Services


This hollowing out of American industry is leaving us with a very dim future, indeed!

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// posted by Dan @ 8:46 AM
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