Foreign Ownership of Industry

From toll roads to water systems, foreign corporations are taking over a bigger chunk of our infrastructure. This is in addition to the debt foreigners hold for us and the manufacturing that we have sent overseas. Following is a partial list of foreign ownership as a percentage of that industry. Some of the numbers may surprise you. Where will it end or have we gone so far that we will be under the control of others forever more? Since these numbers are from 2002, do you suppose they are better or worse in 2010?

Foreign Ownership

According to the website Economy in Crisis, "Foreign ownership refers to ownership of assets of a particular industry by foreign controlled domestic U.S. Corporations (FDC) 50% or more owned by a foreign entity."^[1]

By that definition, the percentage of foreign ownership as of 2002 by industrial sector was as follows:^[2]

• Sound recording industries - 97%
• Commodity contracts dealing and brokerage - 79%
• Motion picture and sound recording industries - 75%
• Metal ore mining - 65%
• Motion picture and video industries - 64%
• Wineries and distilleries - 64%
• Database, directory, and other publishers - 63%
• Book publishers - 63%
• Cement, concrete, lime, and gypsum product - 62%
• Engine, turbine and power transmission equipment - 57%
• Rubber product - 53%
• Nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing - 53%
• Plastics and rubber products manufacturing - 52%
• Plastics product - 51%
• Other insurance related activities - 51%

See the whole list and article at Source Watch.