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The rationale is that the capital assets of the United States, owned by the citizens of the United States become more valuable due to more demand aka more money

The rationale is that the capital assets of the United States, owned by the citizens of the United States become more valuable due to more demand aka more money chasing the assets. China is the second largest economy in the world, the fast growing economy has created a lot of very wealthy citizens, and the savings rate is much higher there. These people are huge purchasers of every kind of US asset: equities, bonds, real estate -- you name it. Without them, the price of US stocks will go down, the valuation of your company will go down, the value of your house will go down, and more. Having said that, if Chinese deal flow is temporarily restricted so that US citizens gain the ability to buy Chinese equity and US companies get better access to Chinese markets, that would be a HUGE win for US companies and the US economy.

zerostar07 8y ago
> price of US stocks will go down, the valuation of your company will go down, the value of your house will go down, and more. You say that as if it is a bad thing, but in europe foreign investment like this can be a source of inequality and makes houses unaffordable for the middle class
- omarforgotpwd 8y ago
  You can have foreign investment and affordable housing. Don't blame the whole housing crisis on foreigners -- we created the affordable housing crisis ourselves. Foreign investment makes us better off, not worse off. Maybe your rent goes up $25 because of increased housing demand from foreign buyers, but then your city is now benefiting from tax revenue from these foreigners and providing you with more services that you benefit from -- let's say, for example, they hire more teachers to deliver a higher quality education at the same price for your children. Now these new teachers need to look presentable for their students so now maybe the local hair dresser is getting more business, and so she decides to expand into the neighboring space and hires you to manage construction... What i'm getting at here is that more value and economic activity in a community flows around and benefits everyone in a lot of ways. It's somewhat ridiculous to say it would be a good thing to watch the price of US assets fall when foreign investment is probably not even in the top 3 reasons for the current housing situation in the US. Even if housing becomes slightly more affordable, you are losing the money you saved out the other end in your stock, 401k, options, and ownership stakes in any private companies. We're better off allowing foreigners to invest, with certain restrictions of course.
  - seanmcdirmid 8y ago
    Foreign speculative bubbles can seriously damage markets when they pop, as has happened before with the Japanese at the end of the 80s on the American and Canadian west coasts. The current Chinese driven bubble looks very similar to the Japanese one. Also, your rent isn’t going up by $25, but $1000. So even if your local gov is raking in more property taxes, you can only benefit from that if you can still afford to live there at all.

zerostar07 8y ago

> price of US stocks will go down, the valuation of your company will go down, the value of your house will go down, and more. You say that as if it is a bad thing, but in europe foreign investment like this can be a source of inequality and makes houses unaffordable for the middle class

omarforgotpwd 8y ago
You can have foreign investment and affordable housing. Don't blame the whole housing crisis on foreigners -- we created the affordable housing crisis ourselves. Foreign investment makes us better off, not worse off. Maybe your rent goes up $25 because of increased housing demand from foreign buyers, but then your city is now benefiting from tax revenue from these foreigners and providing you with more services that you benefit from -- let's say, for example, they hire more teachers to deliver a higher quality education at the same price for your children. Now these new teachers need to look presentable for their students so now maybe the local hair dresser is getting more business, and so she decides to expand into the neighboring space and hires you to manage construction... What i'm getting at here is that more value and economic activity in a community flows around and benefits everyone in a lot of ways. It's somewhat ridiculous to say it would be a good thing to watch the price of US assets fall when foreign investment is probably not even in the top 3 reasons for the current housing situation in the US. Even if housing becomes slightly more affordable, you are losing the money you saved out the other end in your stock, 401k, options, and ownership stakes in any private companies. We're better off allowing foreigners to invest, with certain restrictions of course.
- seanmcdirmid 8y ago
  Foreign speculative bubbles can seriously damage markets when they pop, as has happened before with the Japanese at the end of the 80s on the American and Canadian west coasts. The current Chinese driven bubble looks very similar to the Japanese one. Also, your rent isn’t going up by $25, but $1000. So even if your local gov is raking in more property taxes, you can only benefit from that if you can still afford to live there at all.