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The Wealth of Nations . . . Beware foreign money? |
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Some people worry that the diminishing role of the manufacturing sector in the United States weakens the country's world-wide economic and political clout. Thomas Jefferson felt the same way about agriculture.
The tabulation below allows comparisons by country and it makes clear that both manufacturing and agriculture are being displaced by the service sector -- world-wide. The table also shows that countries with varied cultures and climates can prosper or not with similar mixtures of economic sectors, as measured by Gross Domestic Product per Head. Studying the tabulation evokes interesting tidbits, like:
| Country | Agriculture | Industry | Services | GDP per Head |
| Canada | 3% | 23% | 74% | $27,190 |
| Mexico |
18% |
24% |
58% |
$6,050 |
| United States |
1% |
23% |
76% |
$37,240 |
| Country | Agriculture | Industry | Services | GDP per Head |
| Argentina | 1% | 23% | 76% | $3,380 |
| Brazil | 20% | 14% | 66% | $2,760 |
| Chile | 14% | 23% | 63% | $4,950 |
| Peru | 9% | 18% | 73% | $2,230 |
| Country | Agriculture | Industry | Services | GDP per Head |
| France |
2% |
24% | 74% | $29,240 |
| Germany | 3% | 34% | 63% | $29,130 |
| Italy | 2.3% | 28.9% | 68.9% | $25,580 |
| Russia | 12% | 23% | 65% | $3,020 |
| Sweden | 2% | 24% | 74% | $33,890 |
| United Kingdom | 2% | 19% | 79% | $30,280 |
| Country | Agriculture | Industry | Services | GDP per Head |
| Australia | 4% | 26% | 70% | $26,520 |
| China | 49% | 22% | 29 | $1,090 |
| Hong Kong | 0% | 20% | 80% | $22,380 |
| India | 60% | 17% | 23% | $560 |
| Indochina | 45% | 16% | 39% | $950 |
| Japan | 5% | 25% | 70% | $33,680 |
| Pakistan | 42% | 20% | 38% | $540 |
| Singapore | 0% | 26% | 74% | $21,490 |
| South Korea | 8% | 19% | 73% | $12,690 |
| Taiwan | 8% | 36% | 56% | $12,670 |
| Thailand | 46% | 21% | 33% | $2,280 |
| Country | Agriculture | Industry | Services | GDP per Head |
| Egypt | 32% | 17% | 51% | $1,150 |
| Iran | 30% | 25% | 45% | $1,190 |
| Israel | 19% | 24% | 57% | $17,220 |
| Saudi Arabia | 5% | 26% | 69% | $8,870 |
| Country | Agriculture | Industry | Services | GDP per Head |
| Kenya | 19% | 20% | 61% | $450 |
| Morocco | 5% | 33% | 61% | $1,430 |
| Nigeria | 70% | 10% | 20% | $470 |
| South Africa | 11% | 25% | 64% | $3,550 |
Source: Pocket World in Figures, 2006 Edition, by The Economist
Beware that foreign money?
Two decades ago, there were those who worried that Japanese investment in the
United States was "buying up our economy." Unable or unwilling to to recognize
that those several hundreds of millions of dollars were a tiny fraction of our
country's assets, public and private, the doom-and-gloomers predicted the
demise of our economy. Didn't happen.
Now similar worries are raised about "sovereign wealth" -- the term used for investments here by the governments of countries like China and Dubai, rather than by the private sector.
Then and now, American involvement in international financial transactions worldwide outweighs foreign investment here. Besides, in the event of war or of serious threatened harm, we can always expropriate or freeze foreign assets, as we did in both World Wars and have done recently re Iran. Not to worry. -- 30 Jan 08