The big foreign-money purchases of stakes in Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley are merely a hint of what's ahead in 2008. Foreign buyers, such as sovereign wealth funds from countries like Kuwait and Singapore, will continue to make headlines by grabbing major U.S. assets this year, and the trend is much broader than investments in Wall Street firms that need a capital infusion. What's important to understand is why this is happening - the reasons go beyond what most people realize - and why it may be even more worrisome than it seems.
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What are you worried about?
What are you worried about?
"the reasons go beyond what
debt and consumption, what can you do...
The author is obviously
The author is obviously still living in the last century. This is just a normal part of the globalization game. In the past when other countries were poor and lacked fund+tech we bought their assets. Now that they are rich and America is short of fund they buy some of our stuff. Compared to the assets Americans own overseas, this is really nothing.
Yup
I believe all the foreign investment into US companies was THE story of 2007.
America is no longer a superpower. There are 3 powers in the world: China, the US and the European Union. The next century will be a competition among the three for increasingly scarce resources, and we'll see lots of alliance building with the "second world" countries like Russia, the Middle East and Brazil that have a lot of resources but are not quite world powers in the same league as the top three yet.
I think that's the larger story that goes beyond what the CNN article writes.
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/
Mergers & Inquisitions
The Buffet quote makes sense
The Buffet quote makes sense though, right? Maybe the topic is exaggerated- but do you agree that its at least a little bit of a problem?
also, that makes alot of sense dosk.
?
This could fundamentally change the way our economy runs, could it not? We have always relied on the consumer to drive our economy (go materialism). Strong consumer spending = corporate profits = need for investment = increase in GDP and ultimately an increase in the general level of wealth. Well, if the profits are now flowing the foreign investors, that increase in the general level of wealth will take place in China and the EU. Good for them, not so good for us. Will this fundamentally change the growth driver (consumer spending) of our economy?
F9, someone above already
F9, you said: "if the profits are now flowing to foreign investors..."
Sure, but someone already answered that above, if you had read over the thread: this is nothing compared to the assets Americans own across the globe. Where do you think the profits from THOSE assets go?
I personally think we should
I personally think we should trade with everyone, except some states(China,Iran,Venez...Etc) if we do, we're just giving the enemy money