[TheDude]

Thom Hartmann (radio) rattled off a list, he couldn't finish it before having to take a commercial break for companies like Murk (sp?) and Apple; do we still own them?
List included Random House (his publisher for his book Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, which is about PO, BTW), Chrysler, ITT, Allied Signal Braking, Simon & Schuster, Farmer's Insurance, John Hancock insurance, Trans America Group Ins (irony!). Geezus. How many other properties are owned by aliens? What are the percentages?
I tried to look this up online and strangely many of the links were to outmoded data. Same thing happened once when I tried to confirm Michael Moore's tidbit about the Saudis owning $9 billion in US assets.

[Denny]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheDude', 'T')hom Hartmann (radio) How many other properties are owned by aliens?

[NEOPO]

new world disorder...welcome

[joewp]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheDude', 'T')hom Hartmann (radio) rattled off a list, he couldn't finish it before having to take a commercial break for companies like Murk (sp?) and Apple; do we still own them?

[Alpaca]

Thom Hartmann wrote an article for Common Dreams regarding this shortly after the Dubuai port deal almost went through, and you should be able to find it there (or @ his web page). The stats he referenced are from another site called economyincrisis.org I think.

The argument is not just that foreign ownership is bad because of the loss of jobs, but that these companies aren't paying taxes in the U.S (despite their use of our infrastructure and 'commons') which does directly affect the rest of us in that we're forced to contribute more. It's bad enough that individuals pay roughly 33% of our income to Uncle Sam while corporations pay about 15%, but when they pay 0%, it really sucks.

[rogerhb]

Surely, from a US perspective it would be zero. If it is foreign owned, it would no longer be American.

Similarly, how many Americans are foreigners?

[Tyler_JC]

I don't think the question should be "American-owned" or "foreign-owned".

Is a Toyota Camery an import?

What about a Chevy Trailblazer?

I'll bet that most people would call the Camery an "import" and the Chevy a "domestic".

If you said that, you would be incorrect. More of the Camery is manufactored in America than the Chevy. More of the parts for the Camery are American than for the Chevy.

Globalization hasn't just picked up industry and thrown it into other countries, it has intergrated industry across national borders.

My watch says it was made in Japan. But parts came from Korea and Japan. It came to this country in a Greek ship. The factory was financed through a British bank with an American lawyer negotiating the contract. The factory machinary was imported from Germany and Switzerland on an Italian ship... (or whatever actually, happened, who knows?)

I suggest that everyone go out and buy a copy of Thomas Friedman's book "The World Is Flat".

As for someone's comment about the Saudis...they own far more than 9 billion in US assets. They sell us a billion barrels of oil a year. $60 a barrel. Do the math.

[Shadizar]

I would suggest that everyone realize what benefits have come from this globalization. Many "U.S." corporations are doing very well according to their balance sheets (and stocks).

Unfortunately that manufacturing has gone overseas. The growth of U.S. corporations have come from "cost reduction." Which means job loss (minus massive goverment and services jobs). As it applies to the U.S.

This basically means that the wages of U.S. workers has gone down. In the globalized market that is unavoidable.

Tie that to inflation and we are in a downward spiral. We simply are not competative in many goods within the global economic system.

Economic theory itself agrees. We must decline as other countries advance. That is what we are seeing today. Equalization....or in other words Socialism.

-Shadizar