Editor's note: This article first ran in 2007, but is even more relevant today. It has been updated with the most current statistics available.
America is losing control of its economy and is now quietly being taken over by foreign countries through their purchase and control of our strategic industries (TV manufacturing is now 100% foreign owned, sound recording industry 97%, movie industry 75%, metal ore industry 65%, book publishing 63%, cement industry 81% and many of our other major industries are now foreign owned).
The American economy is no longer competitive. We can't compete with Chinese wage rates, Japanese technology and capital investment, or European trade protections. Any business that can’t be competitive will soon go out of business. Many of our major businesses are now non-competitive and are forced to outsource their manufacturing, close up or sell out. We have sold over 16,600 of our major companies since 1978.
We have become uncompetitive through the effects of ill-conceived policies, disastrous trade agreements (WTO, NAFTA and CAFTA), escalating trade deficits, crumbling industrial infrastructure, and the sale of our most valuable companies.
We now no longer produce enough for ourselves and are increasingly compelled to live on imports, borrowed money, and the income from the sale of our best companies.
Balance of Trade Deficits (The means through which foreign countries accumulate our money to buy us out)
2001 - $365 billion = $694,000 per minute
2002 - $424 billion = $807,000 per minute
2003 - $497 billion = $945,000 per minute
2004 - $608 billion = $1,157,000 per minute
2005 - $711 billion = $1,353,000 per minute
2006 - $753 billion = $1,433,000 per minute
2007 - $700 billion = $1,332,000 per minute
2008 - $677 billion = $1,288,000 per minute
*Recession throughout 2007 and 2008 dampened all U.S. consumption.
These are funds accumulating in foreign hands because we buy more from foreign countries than they buy from us. Foreign companies and governments use this money to buy any US company they like (most of our companies are for sale on the open stock market).
With the sale of these companies go our future production, profit, technologies, taxes and the means through which we became a super power. As more of these companies fall into foreign ownership and control we have fewer American owned companies remaining that can produce products to sell, so our balance of trade deficits are destined to increase yearly with no hope of stopping or reversing this trend until we have no companies left to sell.
We will then have developed the profile of a third world country. Our lifestyle will revert back to conditions similar to those when we were subjected to live under colonial rule when England controlled America.
Through their foreign trade surpluses, countries like Japan and China each now have accumulated $1 trillion of currency reserves. These funds are economic bullets poised to strike and take out most of our companies listed on our stock exchanges.
Many countries, particularly Japan and China manage the political and economic matters of their country like they were conducting a war - to destroy competitors. America has just lost the all important economics war. We lost it because we didn’t even know we were in it, so we planned no defenses like tariffs to protect our industries. We had no offense to create conditions that would allow our manufacturers to profit in America without outsourcing its manufacturing.
We have been totally misled and blinded to reality. We are now being controlled by our competitor bankers (Japan, China, UK and others) from whom we have borrowed and now owe trillions of dollars.
In globalization, an advantage for one country often results in a disadvantage for another. Presently we won’t or can’t compete with Chinese wage rates, as a result, China had a $230 Billion balance of trade surplus in 2006 alone. We can’t compete with Japanese superior technology, as a result, Toyota continues on strong, while American automakers are forced to seek government bailouts and assurances.
We are now in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have no plan to win these wars and we have no exit strategy for Afghanistan. We are presently bleeding to death and to debt in these wars. If we admit defeat and pull out we may have a better chance to survive.
We have just lost the global economics war. We may survive but not like we were. Our standard of living will become greatly diminished. We presently have no plans to change or overcome the devastating effects of this loss.
We are temporarily supported through the good graces of Japan and China from whom we receive much of our needed merchandise and loans to run our government.
What is the matter with us? Are we blind, are we stupid? Can we not see we cannot continue like this, living on imports, debt, and from the sale of our best companies? Please ask your congressional leaders what they are doing about this.
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