Bøger af James K Jackson

Since 2002, the dollar has depreciated against a broad basket of currencies and against the euro. This depreciation has prompted some observers to question whether the "cheap" dollar is leading to a "fire sale" of U.S. firms, especially of those firms that can be identified as part of the Nation's defense industrial base. Congress has displayed a long and continuing interest in foreign direct investment and its impact on the U.S. economy. Since September 11, 2001, Congress has demonstrated a heightened level of concern about the impact of foreign direct investment in critical industries or in sectors that are vital to homeland security. In the 110th Congress, Members are considering H.R. 556, the National Security Foreign Investment Reform and Strengthened Transparency Act of 2007, which was adopted by the full House on February 28, 2007. The measure reflects a heightened level of concern about the presence of foreign investors in the economy by increasing Congressional oversight over federal reviews of foreign direct investment and by expanding the current areas of review to include homeland security and critical infrastructure.

The international investment position of the United States is an annual measure of the assets Americans own abroad and the assets foreigners own in the United States. The net position, or the difference between the two, sometimes is referred to as a measure of U.S. international indebtedness. This designation is not strictly correct, because the net international investment position reveals the difference between the total assets Americans own abroad and the total amount of assets foreigners own in the United States. These assets generate flows of capital into and out of the economy that have important implications for the value of the dollar in international exchange markets. Some Members of Congress and some in the public have expressed concerns about the U.S. net international investment position because of the role foreign investors are playing in U.S. capital markets and the potential for large outflows of income and services payments. Some observers also argue that the U.S. reliance on foreign capital inflows places the economy in a vulnerable position.