The Decline of American Independence

Posted on March 8, 2005 in Social Justice

I was up at five a.m., so I took a little time to research foreign investment in the United States economy. This article from The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics confirms what I said in yesterday’s post:

Despite the notoriety of Japanese investors, the British have the largest U.S. direct investment holding—with the Dutch not far behind—as has been the case since colonial times. In 1990 the United Kingdom held about 27 percent of foreign direct investment in the United States, significantly greater than Japan’s 21 percent. The European Economic Community (EC) collectively holds about 57 percent. Moreover, according to research by Eric Rosengren, between 1978 and 1987, Japanese investors acquired only 94 U.S. companies, putting them fifth behind the British (640), Canadians (435), Germans (150), and French (113).

I remember some years ago when I worked for a Japanese Company. One of my coworkers, who came from Japan, pulled out a glue stick. “Look at that. Made in Taiwan.” He shook his head. “This is why you have a trade deficit. You’re allowing other countries to make things that you could be making here at home.”

We’ve become so addicted to the electronics and the thrill of cruise missiles and robot troopers, we neglect to fill more domestic interests. Our bad economy is due to insufficient production of butter and crazed speculation on Wall Street. Until we get back to the business of sustaining ourselves, we will continue to drift into decline.