The selling of US assets is a bit of a scare tactic seeing how Americans have aggressively expanded overseas for quite some time now. This is where blue chip companies like Proctor and Gamble, Coca-cola, McDonalds, etc are growing their revenues, profits and growth. One of America's greatest asset is their pro-capitalism policies that allow people to invest, take on risk and be rewarded for their innovation and opportunities. As long as the rate of return on American owned assets is greater than the rate of return of foreign owned assets; the American people as a whole will be better off and wealthier than the rest of the world. The American economy is mature, areas of growth are minimal with a total economy growing at a mere 3% annually and most markets while competitive are saturated. The rate of return is going to be significantly less but of course less risky than emerging markets overseas.
People also complain about the shipping of manufacturing jobs overseas. Little do they know that the US is producing (yes...manufacturing) more than it ever did in its history. Manufacturing output is at an all time high; what has changed is the labour required to produce those goods. Much like the farming industry, automation and improved efficiencies have allowed us to utilize a smaller workforce; this is the single biggest impact on the job losses in this sector. Most of the goods produced overseas are labour intensive, low capital investment, and low margin goods like plastic toys, clothing, etc. As a result American companies and consumers are able to consume more goods and services all with domestically owned and operated retail, distribution, r&d, and corporate offices; all producing more jobs and economic activity.
I completely agree with Ron Paul's points about inflation and monetary policy. Inflation punishes savers and asset owners while rewarding spenders and debt holders. The value of a dollar in 1950 should equal a dollar in 2009 in my opinion. Interesting video though...
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