What in the blue hell? Foreigners are buying up America!!

[Hurricane]

Belgians are buying out Budweiser and now, Abu Dhabi is buying the freakin' Chrystler Building! The CHRYSLER BUILDING for God's sake!

Next thing you know, Georgia (the country, not the state) will be buying out Wal-Mart and Congo will own Ford!

[kitty_tc_69]

Belgians are buying out Budweiser!

What's hilarious is they plan to try to market it globally. Anyone who knows the first thing about beer could tell you that's a really piss-poor idea. It's basically like, say, Mercedes buying out Yugo in order to market them across the world. Why would they do it? It doesn't make sense.

[Lester C.]

The Euro is worth almost twice the dollar which is a shock as they were worth the same not to long ago. Even the Canadian dollar is worth more than the US dollar. On a large scale this means foreign corportions can buy up everything left and right because their dollar goes much further than their local competors and on a small scale it means Nintendo sends far more Wiis to Europe than America because they make a lot more money over there.

[CutterMike]

If you're worried about a Belgian company buying Budweiser, but not worried about the Chinese, Saudi, and Russian governments buying up American treasury securities (i.e. OWNING America's national debt), then you haven't been reading the newspapers.

China, for instance, owns well over $300 billion of American debt.

Someday, they're going to want to collect.

Or, if we piss them off, they could simply hint that they're going to sell off a chunk of those securities. The last time a world leader even speculated aloud as to what might happen if his country did so, it caused the Dow Jones to take its worst one-day drop since the crash of '87.

We are SO screwed!

[hellokittykat]

Belgians are buying out Budweiser and now, Abu Dhabi is buying the freakin' Chrystler Building! The CHRYSLER BUILDING for God's sake!

Next thing you know, Georgia (the country, not the state) will be buying out Wal-Mart and Congo will own Ford!

What are you worried about? That the Belgians might make Budweiser not taste like crap? :tongue:

[ShaunN]

Dear Friends,

I can't say that this bothers me (but then I'm not American). Indeed, turnabout is fair play. The US has spent decades making the world safe for American investment and trying to get other countries to agree to international laws and trade agreements that give American companies free access to foreign markets, including the right to buy companies in other lands. In Canada, more than 50% of our oil/gas sector is owned by US companies - a situation that would not be tolerated in any other Western, developed state. So, when other people start buying up American assets - well, it's just other countries playing by the same rules that have worked to the US advantage for so long. I wonder how long it will be before the US tries to change the rules? (Though it has in many cases, doing things like blocking a Chinese oil company from buying a California company, citing national security concerns. We should do the same thing in Canada!)

Sincerely,

Shaun

[Charles RB]

Belgians are buying out Budweiser

Welcome to the lovely world of free market capitalism that America told the rest of the world it should do.

Could be worse - the UK privatised our energy companies so now they're foreign-owned, some of them anyway; this was dumb of us.

French state-owned companies now own part of our nuclear power, which isn't too big a problem as it's an allied state who have experienced with nuclear power, but let's hope they don't decide to sell it to someone else, eh?

[K-DoG7p7]

French state-owned companies now own part of our nuclear power, which isn't too big a problem as it's an allied state who have experienced with nuclear power, but let's hope they don't decide to sell it to someone else, eh?

not just that.. but thy are one of only 2 nations that run Nuke powered Aircraft carriers


TRIVIA!!!

[Alan Lynch]

What are you worried about? That the Belgians might make Budweiser not taste like crap? :tongue:
Belgians aren't magic.

[Agent Helix]

Belgians don't even exist anymore.

[Alan Lynch]

Belgians don't even exist anymore.
Sounds like a case for Poirot.

[the4thpip]

What's hilarious is they plan to try to market it globally. Anyone who knows the first thing about beer could tell you that's a really piss-poor idea. It's basically like, say, Mercedes buying out Yugo in order to market them across the world. Why would they do it? It doesn't make sense.

It would be Hershey's Kisses all over again.

[PKIronMan]

And? This was the whole idea of trade liberalization and free markets. Budweiser could use the infusion of talent and business sense. I doubt the brew will be touched anytime soon though.

The ripples in the global ownership economy are just starting to work themselves out.

[Charles RB]

And? This was the whole idea of trade liberalization and free markets.

Nah, nah, nah - the whole idea of trade liberalisation and free markets was that we (whichever Western nation "we" is) could do this to other country's. When other countries do it to us, it's scary and we start noticing problems with the policy.

[suedenim]

Heck, I'm just glad we'll have some new Belgian overlords since we sold the entire country to Japan in the late '80s and early '90s. The Japanese bought up everything, you know, which is why we're all forced to speak only Japanese in the workplace now, and all American houses of worship have been bought up and converted to Shinto temples. At least the Belgians will let us drink some beer that isn't Kirin!

It all happened just as the experts predicted (http://www.amazon.com/Agents-Influence-Pat-Choate/dp/0394579011), and I expect they'll be equally right this time. Woe, woe!

(With the possible exception of industries important to national security, there's no reason to fear foreign investment, or even care much about it, and there is and always has been much more of it than most people realize. A lot of famous brand names in America are owned by British, Canadian, or Dutch firms, and few know or care, and that's as it should be. Did you know even your pets are in the thrall of evil Swiss plutocrats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purina)?)

[ShaunN]

Dear Suedenim,

Hi! You make some excellent points, some of which I was thinking about too. I remember during the 1980s when the Japanese were buying American assets and creating panic in the US - at no time did Japanese ownership in the US come close to eclipsing Canadian ownership, but the Canadians passed under the radar. The reasons for this are, I expect, both racial/cultural and political- in the 1980s, Japan was seen as the next big challenger to American power, so it's economic incursion on the US was perceived by Americans as particularly threatening. Today, I imagine that China is the big "threat" and the US has already acted to limit some Chinese investment. Beyond that, Arabs seem to elicit a certain amount of hysteria. The Belgians may just have decided to buy at the wrong time - i.e., when concern about Arabs buying the Chrysler Building led to an overall concern with foreigners buying up US companies. Plus, the generally decrepit state of the US economy and the relative value of other currencies has meant that this kind of thing may be becoming more common. (But I haven't seen any stats on that).

Take care,

Shaun

[Royal]

*shrug*

Don't like it. Don't sell it.

[scout1279]

As long as no one changes the Chrysler Building, I'm not going to be too upset about it. I got over this stuff back when the Japanese bought Rockefeller Center. I didn't even realize that landmarks could be bought and sold when that happened, and that the people who bought them had a right to change them. Nothing changed though, and it was all good.

[mgs]

If you're worried about a Belgian company buying Budweiser, but not worried about the Chinese, Saudi, and Russian governments buying up American treasury securities (i.e. OWNING America's national debt), then you haven't been reading the newspapers.

China, for instance, owns well over $300 billion of American debt.

Someday, they're going to want to collect.

Or, if we piss them off, they could simply hint that they're going to sell off a chunk of those securities. The last time a world leader even speculated aloud as to what might happen if his country did so, it caused the Dow Jones to take its worst one-day drop since the crash of '87.

We are SO screwed!

exactly! ;)

Hurricane is severly mis/under-informed as to the state of things as they are in the real world currently, apparently.

[LewisH]

China seems to want to profit from their investments. Driving down the market
would hurt them as much as us at this point. Anyway, if you weren't dumb enough to get a balloon mortgage and invested in relatively stable blue chip
stocks and/or long term bonds you aren't screwed.

The media likes to focus on the 1% of things that are FUBAR and ignore the
99% of things that are the same as they ever were.That's not to say there aren't people and organizations that are suffering in the current economy but in the long run compared to the savings in loan crisis of the 80's this is nothing.

[cactusmaac]

China owns a grand total of about 5% of the US's debt. They couldn't hurt the US even if they wanted to. If they tried, they'd be slapped with sanctions across the board and see their new prosperity disappear.

[PKIronMan]

Nah, nah, nah - the whole idea of trade liberalisation and free markets was that we (whichever Western nation "we" is) could do this to other country's. When other countries do it to us, it's scary and we start noticing problems with the policy.

I really hope the ignorance on this issue that is blaring over the airwaves is a vocal minority. Because if people REALLY thought it wasn't supposed to work this way then the gene pool is far more diluted than I ever thought possible.

[suedenim]

As long as no one changes the Chrysler Building, I'm not going to be too upset about it. I got over this stuff back when the Japanese bought Rockefeller Center. I didn't even realize that landmarks could be bought and sold when that happened, and that the people who bought them had a right to change them. Nothing changed though, and it was all good.

Rockefeller Center isn't on the list of National Historical Landmarks, though the Chrysler Building is. And many states and local jurisdictions *do* put restrictions on what changes can be made to them - for example, this commission (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Landmarks_Preservation_Commission) governs such things in New York.

So if you bought the Chrysler Building, you probably wouldn't be able to tear it down... though you could, perhaps put a superhero base on the top floors....

http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/14833/400/14833_4_001.jpg

(They were, in fact, based on the top floors of the Chrysler Building, but darned if I can Google up an image that actually shows this. The building never made the cover of any of this series' 6 issues, which may be one of the reasons it didn't have more than 6....)

[kitty_tc_69]

It would be Hershey's Kisses all over again.

Explain please? I'm afraid I don't get the reference.

[beetlebum]

Dear Friends,

I can't say that this bothers me (but then I'm not American). Indeed, turnabout is fair play. The US has spent decades making the world safe for American investment and trying to get other countries to agree to international laws and trade agreements that give American companies free access to foreign markets, including the right to buy companies in other lands. In Canada, more than 50% of our oil/gas sector is owned by US companies - a situation that would not be tolerated in any other Western, developed state. So, when other people start buying up American assets - well, it's just other countries playing by the same rules that have worked to the US advantage for so long. I wonder how long it will be before the US tries to change the rules? (Though it has in many cases, doing things like blocking a Chinese oil company from buying a California company, citing national security concerns. We should do the same thing in Canada!)

Sincerely,

Shaun

Thank you.

And personally, imo, knee jerk reactions like this thread are slightly xenophobic in nature.

[NathanBethell]

What's hilarious is they plan to try to market it globally. Anyone who knows the first thing about beer could tell you that's a really piss-poor idea. It's basically like, say, Mercedes buying out Yugo in order to market them across the world. Why would they do it? It doesn't make sense.
Budweiser is already available around the globe. I have had a Bud (yes, the American Bud) in Rome and in the Greek Islands. I'm amused by people under the impression that Europeans don't enjoy lousy beer as much as Americans. Yes, Europeans make some very good beers, and probably more good beers than the major American breweries do.

But can someone explain to me how exactly a Peroni, for instance, is appreciably better than or different from an American-style lager? Birra Moretti? Mythos? Many European pale lagers don't strike me as of noticeably higher quality than the most prominent American brands.

[bringthenoise]

But can someone explain to me how exactly a Peroni, for instance, is appreciably better than or different from an American-style lager?

Did you just insult Peroni? TAKE THAT BACK!

[NathanBethell]

No, I didn't insult Peroni. I asked how Peroni is apperciably better than or different from an American-style lager.

EDIT: I guess I did call it lousy. Here's what I meant though: many beer drinkers reflexively label American beers as lousy, however many European countries make light lagers and pilseners that taste, to my tongue, remarkably similar to American light lagers.

[kitty_tc_69]

Budweiser is already available around the globe. I have had a Bud (yes, the American Bud) in Rome and in the Greek Islands. I'm amused by people under the impression that Europeans don't enjoy lousy beer as much as Americans. Yes, Europeans make some very good beers, and probably more good beers than the major American breweries do.

But can someone explain to me how exactly a Peroni, for instance, is appreciably better than or different from an American-style lager? Birra Moretti? Mythos? Many European pale lagers don't strike me as of noticeably higher quality than the most prominent American brands.

I wouldn't call the Mediterranean region a very good choice for comparison, honestly. You'd be better off looking at the British isles, Germany, Belgium, and other similar areas for where beer is much better. More styles, more flavor, more tradition.

By comparison, American megabrews are by and large bland, and unremarkable at best. Bud isn't a bad product per se, but as pilsner style beers go it's no great shakes. Even if I was a fan of the pilsner style, and I'm not, it's not a good example of it. It's more like a pale imitation, and true pilsners like what TruBev already has in it's stable of brands are better.

Bud and other american megabrews are to beer what box white zinfandel is to wine: cheap, bland, mass produced, inoffensive but boring. There're so many different and better styles of beer out there, and most people in this country don't have any idea how much beer can really vary. Comparing the difference between things like bud and Coors and Miller are like comparing colas and thinking that's the whole range of what soda is, never knowing there are things like 7up and root beer and red cream soda and everything else out there.

[Charles RB]

Because if people REALLY thought it wasn't supposed to work this way then the gene pool is far more diluted than I ever thought possible.

Thinking it doesn't work this way would involve thinking foreign countries have money and might, at some point, be doing better than you. Blasphemy!

[bringthenoise]

EDIT: I guess I did call it lousy. Here's what I meant though: many beer drinkers reflexively label American beers as lousy, however many European countries make light lagers and pilseners that taste, to my tongue, remarkably similar to American light lagers.

I'd pretty much agree with that, although Peroni is, IMO, the best example of that style of lager available.

[the4thpip]

Explain please? I'm afraid I don't get the reference.

Europe has great chocolate. Hershey's kisses are... not great chocolate. They tried to launch them in Europe a few years ago.

[NathanBethell]

I wouldn't call the Mediterranean region a very good choice for comparison, honestly. You'd be better off looking at the British isles, Germany, Belgium, and other similar areas for where beer is much better. More styles, more flavor, more tradition.

By comparison, American megabrews are by and large bland, and unremarkable at best. Bud isn't a bad product per se, but as pilsner style beers go it's no great shakes. Even if I was a fan of the pilsner style, and I'm not, it's not a good example of it. It's more like a pale imitation, and true pilsners like what TruBev already has in it's stable of brands are better.

Bud and other american megabrews are to beer what box white zinfandel is to wine: cheap, bland, mass produced, inoffensive but boring. There're so many different and better styles of beer out there, and most people in this country don't have any idea how much beer can really vary. Comparing the difference between things like bud and Coors and Miller are like comparing colas and thinking that's the whole range of what soda is, never knowing there are things like 7up and root beer and red cream soda and everything else out there.

I'm aware that the Mediterranean region isn't famous for its beer, but that's why I picked it for my argument. In your first post, you seemed to suggest that there's nowhere on earth that could possibly be sold a Budweiser, but, as I tried to document, bland pilsners / pale lagers are produced by countries other than the United States.

I also know that American major breweries have a limited range, but to suggest that this limited range doesn't appeal to people outside U.S. borders is to overstate your case against Budweiser.

[K-DoG7p7]

http://www.davesontour.com/images/foreigner1.jpg

[Charles RB]

I wouldn't call the Mediterranean region a very good choice for comparison, honestly. You'd be better off looking at the British isles

Budweiser gets sold and advertised here.

[NathanBethell]

I'd pretty much agree with that, although Peroni is, IMO, the best example of that style of lager available.
And I wouldn't fight you over this judgement. I like Peroni and sometimes drink it, even in the States. I'm sure I also like many beers that Kitty would consider great.

But I still believe that Old Style, Pabst, etc. would have a place in this world, even if every dive bar in the States had the full selection of a German biergarten. I mean, would you wash a Chicago-style hotdog down with a Trappist ale?

[section 8]

It is far more likley that Wal-Mart will be bought by China

[Michael P]

It's funny, the Iroquois said something similar about 250 years ago.

[section 8]

It's funny, the Iroquois said something similar about 250 years ago.

As an indian, i can tell you once was bad enough.

[Grazzt]

http://www.davesontour.com/images/foreigner1.jpg

They're only doing it because they want to know what love is!

[Alan Lynch]

But I still believe that Old Style, Pabst, etc. would have a place in this world, even if every dive bar in the States had the full selection of a German biergarten. I mean, would you wash a Chicago-style hotdog down with a Trappist ale?
I don't doubt for a second that there are many fine American beers avaliable over there. But here we mostly see Bud, Miller, Coors and the like - pisswater all. Wheras the big Continental beers are generally higher quality. I dunno, Bud sells like nobody's business so clearly there's plenty folks who like it, but it's not for me. I think the point is that American beer is largely represented the world over by pretty poor examples, which is unfair.
They're only doing it because they want to know what love is!
They want you to show them.

[CutterMike]

Belgians are buying out Budweiser (...)

What's hilarious is they plan to try to market it globally. Anyone who knows the first thing about beer could tell you that's a really piss-poor idea. It's basically like, say, Mercedes buying out Yugo in order to market them across the world. Why would they do it? It doesn't make sense.
Actually, I just heard an article on MPR that makes this all make a billion different kinds of sense:

The Chinese like light-flavored beers. European beers, in general, aren't doing as well at breaking into the China market as Bud is.

80% of China's population -- more than a billion people -- is 15 years old or above.

That's a *BIG* market to expand into!

[Lester C.]

Europe has great chocolate. Hershey's kisses are... not great chocolate. They tried to launch them in Europe a few years ago.

I've been to Europe and Canada a couple of times. Other than the fact everything so expensive there, I think everything is better there compared to the United States. As soon as you enter you notice it, as even the air and streets are cleaner.

[Lord Destiny]

China owns a grand total of about 5% of the US's debt. They couldn't hurt the US even if they wanted to. If they tried, they'd be slapped with sanctions across the board and see their new prosperity disappear.

I think you underestimate China's leverage.

If we "slap" China with sanctions, they can cut off our imports.

And if you think we can just send our military over to kick'em around a bit, let me remind you of our struggles in Iraq. If we can't suppress a country of 30 million, how will we fare against a country of 1,300 million?

[Charles RB]

If we "slap" China with sanctions, they can cut off our imports.

Stopping importing goods to America would hurt them though.

Looks sort of like China and America are economically bound to the point where they have to be really nice to each other since they can't hurt the other without hurting themselves at the same time.