I am listening to Thom Hartmann & freaking out - I don't pay attention to 'business' - when the h*** did this happen?
Selling Out - $1.3 Trillion of American Companies Sold to Foreign Corps
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http://www.economyincrisis.org/article_15.html>The following staggering amount of our wealth producing companies has been sold to foreign owners in the 10 years from 1995 through 2005. Below is a partial list of the 8,600 U.S. companies sold.
It is critical to understand that even if these are not all familiar corporate names, they are all very valuable strategic companies with vast amounts of technology, assets, production facilities, tax base, and employment attached to each one. In fact, many of the smallest, most unfamiliar acquisitions represent some of the most significant strategic and proprietary technology losses to this country. Many of these companies took decades, and in some cases generations, to build to their size and scope prior to acquisition. Not only does the US lose control of the assets and technologies of these companies as of the date they were acquired, the US also loses all future profit and title to all future advancements of these companies.
These companies were the means through which America created much of its present wealth. With the loss of these companies and having no comparable replacement, it's easy to see that our future will not be as good as our past, especially since the countries that acquired these companies are now able to compete with us in almost all industries. Why are we doing this? Don't we have alternatives? Who is responsible, demand answers from your congressperson.
The following table lists only a few of the 8,600 foreign acquisitions during this period. The $1.3 Trillion figure and complete list can be verified at the US Bureau of Economic Analysis.
*Warning - I typed these names and left off some of the 'division' information - check the 'Economy in Crisis' website for complete information!*
Harcourt, Simon & Schuster, Houghton Mifflin, CBS Records, Random House, Harper & Row, Doubleday, Addison-Wesley
MCA, Columbia Pictures, MGM/UA, RCA Columbia
John Hancock, TransAmerica, Farmers, CIGNA, Providian
Westinghouse, Zenith, Natl Semiconductor-Bus, Plant
SmithKline Beckman Corp, Syntex, Rorer, Genentech, Chiron Diagnostic
AMOCO, ARCO, Texaco, Pennzoil-Quaker, Chevron, CITGO
VoiceStream, AT&T-Worldwide, GE Americom, QUALCOMM, Lockheed Martin
Chrysler, ITT, AlliedSignal, Mack Trucks, General Motors, Delphi
Firestone, Uniroyal, Johnson Controls
Ralston Purina, Pfizer, Gerber, Dr Pepper/Seven-Up, Slim-Fast, Snapple, Tropicana
Foreign Acqusitions of U.S. Businesses
TOP 20 INDUSTRIES:
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http://www.economyincrisis.org/congress/acqtracker_industry.asp>Telecommunications 265 $130,402 Million
Oil and Gas; Petroleum Refining 521 $127,258 Million
Business Services 1,989 $107,067 Million
Food and Kindred Products 455 $87,971 Million
Insurance 339 $84,545 Million
Investment & Commodity Firms 492 $66,051 Million
Drugs 370 $65,765 Million
Electronic and Electrical Equipment 616 $62,209 Million
Printing, Publishing 523 $58,747 Million
Transportation Equipment 165 $56,958 Million
Electric, Gas, and Water Distribution 156 $56,496 Million
Chemicals and Allied Products 552 $51,758 Million
Commercial Banks, Bank Holding Co 137 $47,221 Million
Measuring, Medical, Photo Equipment 660 $42,968 Million
Computer and Office Equipment 287 $33,102 Million
Credit Institutions 92 $31,997 Million
Metal and Metal Products 509 $31,799 Million
Real Estate; Mortgage Bankers.. 333 $30,086 Million
Prepackaged Software 882 $27,758 Million
Wholesale Trade-Nondurable Goods 317 $27,496 Million