What I Learned Today

St. Mark's: The Next Times Square?

Will this become this? Venice’s Piazza San Marco is in need of restoration but can’t foot the bill. To help fund the project, Venice may resort to electronic advertising billboards, much like those adorning our beautiful Times Square.

The plan, yet to be officially approved, calls for five screens, each measuring about 2,500 square feet, to be hung on scaffolding throughout the square. Sad times.

QQs: The Democratic National Convention

How much did it cost to attend the DNC?
Free for everyday adults. Some special seats cost at least $1,000.

How many seats does the Mile High Stadium (aka Invesco field) hold?
Aboout 76125

How old is Biden’s “drop dead gorgeous” wife?
57

What is her PhD that he says is “a problem”?
She received her PhD in education from the University of Delaware.

How old is Biden’s mom?
90

How cute are Obama’s daughters?
Very.

Who cares that Eisenhower’s granddaughter supports Obama?
I don’t know.

Do (young) people know why Ted Kennedy could never have been President?
A quick poll shows no. Though he did put in his bid in the 1980 election, the Chappaquiddick Incident was poor form.

Where were the Clintons at Obama’s speech?
Apparently Hillary supposed to be there (but I never saw her), but Bill did not attend. It was a way of passing the baton to the next generation, I suppose.

Did McCain really congratulate Obama in an ad?
Yes. View it here.

Has a candidate ever delivered a congratulations commercial to the other party’s nominee?
I don’t know, I tried to research that but had little success.

Has McCain really voted with Bush 90% of the time?
Per Congressional Quarterly Voting Studies here is McCain’s support since ‘01,
2001: 91%
2002: 90%
2003: 91%
2004: 92%
2005: 77%
2006: 89%
2007: 95%

Does Obama actually have a platform?
Prior to tonight, he seemed more like a trendy brand than a Presidential nominee. Here are his planks, as they were finally outlined in his speech:

Energy

• End dependence on oil from middle east – support natural gas, clean coal, nuclear power, solar power, wind power.
  
• Spend $150B in clean energy the next decade, and add 5 million new jobs that can’t be outsourced.
• Retool our failing auto companies so they can make fuel-efficient cars.
  

Education

• Every child a “world class” education

Healthcare

• Affordable accessible healthcare for every American – equal to what members of Congress give themselves.
• Stop insurance companies from discriminating against the sick.

Economy

• Change bankruptcy laws
• Close corporate tax loopholes
• Tax breaks to companies that create jobs at home (rather than outsource)
• Eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses & start ups
• Eliminate bunk programs in the federal budget
• Reduce taxes for 95% of American families (increase the middle class)

Social Security

• Change it

Equality

• Equal pay for equal days of work

Foreign Policy

• Time frame to remove troops from Iraq

Abortion, Gun Control, Same Sex Marriage

• He quickly noted some sort of hybrid between both sides on these

Change, Hope, etc.

• A lot of it.
  

The Most (un)American Icons

Have you seen the recent Budweiser “Great American Lager” commercials? You know, the ones that are oozing with everything American – football, tailgating, the Statue of Liberty, riding motorcycles, playing in a garage band, and, of course, a fat slice of apple pie. They’re trying to remind me that their All American beer is still All American. But is it? I’m pretty sure by now we all know the answer is no - Anheuser Busch was bought out by InBev, the Belgian Brewer. The deal, soon to close, will make the new combined company “Anheuser Busch InBev” the largest beer company in the world.

I’ve read quite a bit about Foreign Direct Investment into our banks, our businesses, and our real estate. Below are just some examples of iconic American brands, buildings, even roads that are not so American.

1. The Chrysler Building – In July, the Abu Dhabi Investment Council’s sovereign wealth fund bought a 90% stake in the Chrysler building for an estimated $800 million. The building management will remain under Tishman Speyer Properties, who owns the remaining 10%.  Prior to Abu Dhabi’s purchase, the majority (75%) of the building was owned by TMW, a German real estate fund.
2. Citibank – Remember Prince bin Alwaleed bin Talal? He’s Citigroup’s largest investor, owning about 5% of the firm
3. The Plaza Hotel – The Plaza Hotel, near Central Park, NY, is co-owned by who other than Prince bin Alwaleed bin Talal and Israeli billionaire Yitzhak Tshuva’s El-Ad Group. The hotel’s ownership passed through the hands of the Hilton’s and the Trump’s until Trump sold to the partnership for $325 million in 1995.
4. Essex House in Manhattan – This landmark hotel was bought by the Dubai Investment Group in 2005 and is under management by the Dubai based hospitality group, Jumeriah, which operates the only 7-star hotel in the world, the Burj Al Arab in the UAE.
5. 7-Eleven – Yes, 7-Eleven is a subsidiary of the Japanese company Seven & I Holdings. The company faced financial difficulties in the 80s, and was rescued by one of the franchisees in Japan. In the 90s, Seven & I bid for and received a controlling share of the company.
6. The Chicago Skyway- In 2005, the city of Chicago sold a 99-year lease on the eight-mile Chicago Skyway for $1.83 billion to the Skyway Concession Company, a company jointly owned by the Macquarie Infrastructure Group of Sydney, Australia, and the Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte of Madrid, Spain. Chicago used the money to pay off debt and fund road projects.
7. Indiana Toll Road - “The Crossroads of America” is owned by the crossroads of Spain and Australia. It’s also owned by Macquarie Infrastructure Group of Sydney, Australia, and the Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte of Madrid, Spain.
8. Merrill Lynch – The iconic bull down in Battery Park may no longer represent United States’ economic fortitude. In January, ML raised $6.6 billion from the sale of its preferred stock to three foreign investors: Korean Investment Corporation, Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group Inc, and the Kuwaiti Investment Authority.
9. Trader Joe’s – Trader Joe, a manager of Rexall drugs, bought Rexall store chain, changed the name and began offering exotic, environmental, and healthy food. In 1979 ALDI, a German company,  bought out the company.
10. Genentech – The largest biotech firm in America is actually owned by the Swiss. In fact, they just made an unsolicited offer to acquire the 44% of the firm that it does not already own for about $44 billion.

So what gives?
This American “Yard Sale” is the largest it’s ever been. Some of our greatest companies, cities, and builders are welcoming investors from around the world. The reason? It’s the economy, stupid. A weakening economy, huge national and local debt, a housing decline, and, of course, our weak dollar enhances other countries’ purchasing power, and positions the US as eager to be purchased. And eager, we are - last year, there were over 2,000 foreign-led acquisitions of US companies in deals worth about $405.4Billion. Foreign-led mergers and acquisitions have increased sixfold in the last five years.

And it’s all good… Foreign investment helps create more income and provides jobs to Americans. It aids financial institutions that may otherwise collapse. It may have kept the dollar from further decline. The increase in capital helps keep interest rates low so that people can borrow money.

… Until it’s bad.  Though investment into American assets may be helping us now, what happens when the US turns itself around? Once the economy recovers, the money that we are producing will be going to these foreign investors. US. Economist Joseph Stiglitz said it best “If you were to look at America Inc. as a company… the fraction of America Inc. that is owned by Americans is diminishing.” I guess what goes around comes around..