Buckeye508

Foreign Investment in the United States: Reverse Globalization?

I agree the US is currently on the receiving end of "reverse globalization". My concerns have less to do with foreign investment in the US and more to do with increasing foreign appetite for commodities as a result of reverse globalization.

Globalization (US investment in foreign countries) has made developing nations more affluent. With their new affluence, they demand more oil. They demand more protein in their diets,which by now we have all heard that 6-7 pounds of carbohydrate (e.g. corn) are needed to produce 1 lb of protein (e.g. beef). Yes, the weak dollar has a large role in surging commodity prices for the US, though we cannot discount the important role of reverse globalization.

This concern over foreign investment is somewhat reminiscent of the scare in the 80s of Japan buying up real estate in Hawaii, NYC, etc.
Why is foreign investment in hard assets in the US necessarily a bad thing? In hindsight, it wasn't a bad thing then, and I have a difficult time seeing why its such a bad thing now.