Friday, March 10, 2006
The New Protectionists
How to create a real security crisis.
Foreigners are not buying up America's stock of wealth; they are investing in ways that add to it.
More broadly, U.S. economic and defense security are intertwined. Imagine the threat to American well being if investment capital were trying to flee the U.S. because it believed opportunities were better elsewhere. Meanwhile, the interdependence that comes with foreign investment also gives those investors a stake in both American success and security. Are the Gulf emirates more, or less, reliable as U.S. allies because they invest their petrodollars in American assets? We'd say more. And, of course, foreigners who invest in the U.S. also help finance the military that keeps us safe.
Foreigners are not buying up America's stock of wealth; they are investing in ways that add to it.
More broadly, U.S. economic and defense security are intertwined. Imagine the threat to American well being if investment capital were trying to flee the U.S. because it believed opportunities were better elsewhere. Meanwhile, the interdependence that comes with foreign investment also gives those investors a stake in both American success and security. Are the Gulf emirates more, or less, reliable as U.S. allies because they invest their petrodollars in American assets? We'd say more. And, of course, foreigners who invest in the U.S. also help finance the military that keeps us safe.
