The New Competitors: How Foreign Investors Are Changing the U.S. Economy

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THE MEDIA REPORT almost daily

about the rise of foreign direct investment in the United States. About

$3~ billion was spent in 1987 alone, bringing the total to about $~6a

billion, or triple the amount of direct investment at the beginning of the

decade. Direct investment came through buyouts of our companies, the

construction of new plants and offices, and joint ventures between for-

eign and American companies. Adding foreign ownership of stocks,

bonds, and other assets brings the total foreign investment to more than

$1.5 trillion.

When we started our research on direct investment a few years ago,

no one paid much attention to the phenomenon, but today foreign

investment is highly controversial. It is being debated within the business

community, among trade unionists, and in the press, and has received

increasing attention among policy makers in Washington and in state

capitals. Academic economists and political scientists have jumped into

the fray as well. Now foreign investment is a passionate political issue

among the American people.

Some believe that foreign investment is creating jobs and revitaliz-

ing the economy. Others fear that foreigners are taking over our coun-

try and with it our economic sovereignty. As we approach the 199os,

economic nationalism--the sense that the United States is no longer

number one, and that foreigners are responsible for many of our eco-

nomic problems--has taken firm root.

Is foreign investment good or bad for this country? Should we limit

foreign investment or should we encourage it? Do foreign companies

create jobs or are they taking jobs away from American workers? These

are but some of the heated political and economic questions we answer

in this book. We present the facts about foreign investment and inter-

pret them objectively. We find that many boosters and lobbyists for

foreign multinational corporations have overstated the benefits of for-