Boosting Investment in America

Aaron Walling / March 30, 2011

Recently, the Organization for International Investment released a report showing that the United States received $194.5 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2010. This FDI is responsible for millions of jobs, billions of dollars in exports, and higher wages for U.S. workers.

FDI occurs when someone in another country directly builds a facility in the U.S., like the $1.5 billion Toyota Tundra plant in San Antonio, Texas, that employs nearly 1,700 people. FDI does not include the billions of dollars that foreigners invest in the U.S. each year by buying stock in U.S. companies or loaning money to the federal government.

Critics say that companies prefer to invest in low-wage countries, causing job losses in the U.S. However, the U.S. is the world’s largest recipient of FDI. As such, the U.S. receives the many benefits associated with foreign direct investment, including job creation, higher wages, increases in exports, and increases in research and development. (more…)