Great American Yard Sale


During 5th period this week we got into a very good discussion about the state of our economy in America. I had mentioned that foreign companies, entrepreneurs and governments have been buying up US assets. This seemed to come to a big surprise to my students.

While in line at Kroger on Saturday night (yeah, pretty exciting night for me!), I noticed a Time Magazine article titled, "The Great American Yard Sale." Here is a part of the article:
The weak dollar and our weakening economy are underwriting the great American yard sale. Investors from Dubai are behind the June purchase of the General Motors Building in New York City for $2.8 billion. The Abu Dhabi Investment Council's sovereign wealth fund bought a 90% stake in the landmark Chrysler Building. General Electric's plastics division is gone, and its famed appliance unit could soon be in the hands of China's Haier or South Korea's LG. Chrysler is hoping to hook up with India's Tata Motors or Italy's Fiat. Switzerland's Roche Holding is offering about $44 billion to acquire the 44% of the biotechnology outfit Genentech that it doesn't own.
Read more of the full article on Time's Website here: Time: The Great American Yard Sale

What do you think about this? The authors conclusion is that the US is being bought piece-by-piece because it has worth and value. Is this just a sign of a new shrinking world economy? Is it a good thing? or bad? Will there be a day when New York City is mostly owned by non-New Yorkers? What about Houston?

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