America's Sellout

[EV_Ares]

China loves Blackstone's 'American Dream'
And Buffett warns about 'selling off the farm' to feed our addictions
By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- Remember America's so-called "ownership society?" Oh, you forgot that political rhetoric? Well, China didn't. It's cashing in on the "American Dream." Why? The country is tired of lending us megabucks to fund our mega trade deficits to indulge in our mega out-of-control addiction to their "stuff."
Warren Buffett warned us about this in Fortune several years ago. One of his famous folksy tales compared America to a farmer selling off his land to finance his high-on-the-hog lifestyle. Buffett offered a simple economic solution. But I'm getting ahead of myself ...

First why are we so out of control? Why, like addicts, can't we stop ourselves? And why are we trapped in this sinking feeling brilliantly described by Benjamin Barber, author of "Jihad vs. McWorld," writing in The American Conservative: Trapped in "a world of adolescents: children with consumer power and adults with the appetites of spoiled kids." Why is more never enough? Why do we want stuff now? Why forget tomorrow?
We panicked about Dubai buying our ports. About China's bid for Unocal. We stopped them. Temporarily. But China kept taking our IOUs. Then Washington stopped saying "no" to selling equity. Our leaders are addicted too, addicted to foreign lenders funding our endless $600 billion annual trade deficits.
Only China has a whopping $1.2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves. And Treasuries are no longer enough for China. Even Jack Bauer of "24" counterterrorism fame can't stop them.
I've been following America's sellout since my days at Morgan Stanley in the 1970s helping Mitsubishi, Japan's largest trading company, buy U.S. properties. Back then we were a strong nation. But today, the S&P 500's produced zero returns in seven years, our saving's rate is below zero, the dollar's imploding, household debt is exploding and we're the world's biggest "debtor nation."
Debt wasn't enough for the Japanese back then. Nor the Chinese today. They're just being prudent businessmen. Which is good news; "owners" are less likely to be enemies.
So the sellout continues, even accelerating. Signs are everywhere: Toyota is America's No. 1 auto company, jobs outsourced to India, failed immigration policies with Mexico, Halliburton and other companies relocating in the Middle East and other foreign domiciles. To paraphrase Pogo: "We got a big problem, and it is us."

(((Entire article @ link below:)))

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/chinas-new-ownership-society---/story.aspx?guid=%7B4A3ECBE2%2DE799%2D4DAE%2D9FF2%2DCF591A394698%7D

[Double T]

1. Corporate and government propaganda obscures the truth about many things...........

including the actual state of the USA economy. corporate america sold its soul to wall street and its investors and ultimately all of America will pay for their insatiable greed; it's much worse than 1929 all over again. The biggest problem is there is nowhere for our economy to go from here, except down and out.