For John, BLUF: The US is not owned by foreigners. Nothing to see here; just move along.
At this link are a series of charts from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), part of the US Department of Commerce. Here is BEA's home page.
Chart Number 11 looks at the question of how much of the US is foreign owned. But, there are also other interesting charts, including one showing that Detroit, which seems to be an economic basket case, is experiencing greater economic growth than the US as a whole.
Knowledge of this set of slides traces back through Blogger Matt Yglesias.
Regards — Cliff
4 comments:
Compound interest is the means, and the individuals and sovereignties holding the paper we are all working to pay off (including our national debt) are the real owners. Which is to say, people forced out of their homes may have their names on deeds, but it's the names on the mortgage certificates that really count.
So, aside from names, faces, places, the game is the same as it has been always......there are a few haves...and lots of have nots. I'm sure that are at least a few billion intelligentsia throughout history who can eloquently condemn or defend that stratification...but it does persist.
BTW....for those who cling to socialistic or even communistic thoughts as means to "level the playing field" are merely engaging in the same self deception that has led others to public showers and long term relocation to various "work" camps. And in the end, there were still a few Haves, and maybe even more Have Nots.
Why? Who REALLY knows. Much of it is luck. Much of it is skill and knowledge. Much of it is both. Some of it may be because folks are just lazy, or fall victim to this or that physical or emotional disability, or are just born...well...comparatively stupid.
But, in the greater natural scheme of things, there are a few who are going to always be the eagles....and a much larger group who are destined to be statues.
"...for those who cling to socialistic or even communistic thoughts as means to "level the playing field" are merely engaging in the same self deception that has led others to public showers and long term relocation to various "work" camps."
Textbook hyperbole. Substitute any socialistic policy that has endured in the US and it's clear. That socialized insurance is the same thinking as work camps is beyond the pale.
Better reasoning please.
Socialism is merely the means to an end. Collectivism is the tool used to subjugate people to the elusive "common good." In the end, the real "benefit" flows to one man, or a very small group of elite, generally self serving and self appointed.
Who "benefits" from socialized insurance? BTW, is there another kind of insurance? How many years has socialism persisted in Russia? Who benefited under Lenin? "Socialistic policy" as it is employed in the "free" world is simply another route for the benefit of a few by promising a better future for the many.
Leveling the playing field is always done by those who control the playing field. In point of fact, determining that it even NEEDS leveling is determined by the owners of the field.
Capitalists level the field by promoting a "free market economy" but take great pains that it doesn't become too free, lest the competition from too many choices remove an important profit percentage from the outcome of sales.
I agree with Kad. All I am saying that it's an old, old game...foisted on the many by the few under a lot of different names. Using his example, if people lose their homes and the mortgage holder is the government, it is now socialistic, but not better. Ask anyone who lives in a state run housing system. Where there is no competition, there is no motivation to improve...or even be good. But the folks at the top STILL get the biggest piece of the cheese.
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