QUOTE
Foreign investors buy stakes in US
Pour record $414b into private deals
By Peter S. Goodman and Louise Story
New York Times News Service / January 20, 2008
NEW YORK - In May, a Saudi Arabian conglomerate bought a Massachusetts plastics maker. In November, a French company established a new factory in Adrian, Mich., adding 189 automotive jobs to an area accustomed to layoffs. In December, a British company bought a New Jersey maker of cough syrup.
For much of the world, the United States is now on sale at discount prices.
...
The surge of foreign money has injected fresh tension into a running debate about America's place in the global economy. It has supplied state governors with a new development strategy - attracting foreign money. And it has reinvigorated sometimes jingoistic worries about foreigners securing control of America's fortunes, a narrative last heard in the 1980s as Hondas proliferated and Rockefeller Center landed in Japanese hands.
With a growing share of investment coming from so-called sovereign wealth funds - vast pools of money controlled by governments from China to the Middle East - lawmakers and regulators are calling for greater scrutiny to ensure that foreign countries do not gain influence over the financial system or military-related technology. On the presidential campaign trail, the Democratic candidates have begun to focus on these foreign funds, calling for international rules that would make them more transparent.
Full article at LINK
Pour record $414b into private deals
By Peter S. Goodman and Louise Story
New York Times News Service / January 20, 2008
NEW YORK - In May, a Saudi Arabian conglomerate bought a Massachusetts plastics maker. In November, a French company established a new factory in Adrian, Mich., adding 189 automotive jobs to an area accustomed to layoffs. In December, a British company bought a New Jersey maker of cough syrup.
For much of the world, the United States is now on sale at discount prices.
...
The surge of foreign money has injected fresh tension into a running debate about America's place in the global economy. It has supplied state governors with a new development strategy - attracting foreign money. And it has reinvigorated sometimes jingoistic worries about foreigners securing control of America's fortunes, a narrative last heard in the 1980s as Hondas proliferated and Rockefeller Center landed in Japanese hands.
With a growing share of investment coming from so-called sovereign wealth funds - vast pools of money controlled by governments from China to the Middle East - lawmakers and regulators are calling for greater scrutiny to ensure that foreign countries do not gain influence over the financial system or military-related technology. On the presidential campaign trail, the Democratic candidates have begun to focus on these foreign funds, calling for international rules that would make them more transparent.
Full article at LINK