Today, many Americans regard globalization as a significant threat to our work
force, and to our very way of life. As unemployment soars, the American automotive and
manufacturing industries crumble, countless jobs continue to ship overseas, and the retail
sector faces the worst slump in decades, cries of “Buy American” have grown louder and
louder - in our communities, in the headlines, and in the halls of Washington. But at a
time when an Italian company has bailed out one of our oldest and most iconic automakers;
a French-German consortium is closing in on a multibillion dollar military contract to
build our tanker planes and helicopters; companies based everywhere from Switzerland to
India to Belgium are stocking our grocery aisles; and the assets of some of our most
venerable financial institutions have been stripped down and bought up by banks from Hong
Kong and London, what does “Buy American” mean any more?
That said, there is a great deal of discomfort about the influence that foreign companies
are exerting on our economy. Are they making us more competitive in the global
marketplace, or less? Are they creating jobs for Americans, or importing their own
workforces? Are they a threat to our national security, or are they bringing us technology
that actually makes us safer? When they open plants and factories on our shores, are they
siphoning money from our economy, or bolstering it? In welcoming their investments, are
we, as some critics contend, selling our economy to the highest bidder?
In THE SELLING OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMY, New York Times senior business
correspondent Micheline Maynard argues that despite the lingeringxenophobia that colors
American perception of foreign-owned companies, foreign investments are actually an
overwhelmingly positive force. Not only do they create thousands of jobs and pump billions
of dollars into national and local economies, she says, they reinvigorate and strengthen
communities, foster innovation and diversity in the marketplace, and teach Americans new
ways to live and work.
At a time when our most cherished home-grown institutions, still reeling from the
financial crisis, are downsizing, shuttering plants and factories, and filing for
bankruptcy, the need for foreign investment has never been greater. In this compelling
narrative, Maynard shows that if we are in fact selling our economy to the highest bidder,
this may be very good news for America.
Through moving stories of workers whose lives have been transformed by the arrival of
companies like Toyota, Airbus, and Tata, probing interviews with a host of government
officials and local leaders who have fought to lure foreign companies to their communities
and states, and revealing conversations with both American and foreign executives
(including a rare and hard-won visit with Toyota’s elusive young new president) Maynard
paints a fascinating portrait of the paradigm shift that is transforming the American
economy - and remaking the American dream
MICHELINE MAYNARD is the Senior Business Correspondent at the New York
Times, and the author of the acclaimed book, The End of Detroit. The recipient of the 2009
Nathanial Nash award for excellence in business journalism, she has written for USA Today
and U.S. News and World Report, and appears regularly on CNBC and NPR. She lives in Ann
Arbor.
272 pages, Hardcover
