Thursday, June 12, 2008
Getting our dollars back, part 2
The dollars are coming home.
Yesterday we learned that Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund was buying a big stake in the Chrysler building, and today Belgians are buying Anheuser-Busch.
Good. We need to trade something for the dollars that we ship abroad in exchange for oil, or people will stop taking the dollars.
Unfortunately, Missouri's Republican governor is either a cynical demagogue or an idiot, so he is trying to gin up political opposition to the deal.
But politicians and activists are already lining up against the deal, saying it could cost jobs in the United States and send ownership of an iconic American company overseas. With economic concerns at the front of voters' minds, the opposition could cause a headache for InBev.
Republican Gov. Matt Blunt said Wednesday he opposes the deal, and directed the Missouri Department of Economic Development to see if there was a way to stop it.
"I am strongly opposed to the sale of Anheuser-Busch, and today's offer to purchase the company is deeply troubling to me," Blunt said in a statement.
Web sites have sprung up opposing the deal on patriotic grounds, arguing that such an iconic U.S. firm shouldn't be handed over to foreign ownership. One of the sites, called SaveAB.com, was launched by Blunt's former chief of staff, Ed Martin.
Yesterday I observed that one of the best ways to bring dollars home is to sell foreigners "marquis" properties at inflated prices. Another really great way is to sell them brand names. "Brand names for oil" has a nice ring to it. So let's get those dollars back, and either invest them in new brand names here at home or send them back overseas in return for more oil.
And, besides, it is virtually certain that Belgians -- any Belgians, really -- could improve the actual taste of Anheuser-Busch beer. How can that be a bad thing?
10 Comments:
By 
, at
Thu Jun 12, 09:02:00 AM:
Really. IMHO, Bud, Bud Light, etc all suck. And there are plenty of other domestic beers that are good.
How long 'till one of the ME oil fiefdoms buys Ford or GM, at their present depressed value? Maybe they can fix them?
What else is for sale? Procter and Gamble? Coca-Cola? I heard that GE was thinking of selling their appliance division, so there's that.
Everything must go! and shipping more dollars for oil next week.
How much for your blog, TH?
-David
By , at
Thu Jun 12, 09:07:00 AM:
W/r/t your malicious slandering of Bud Light, let me politely suggest you choose your words carefully. Having drank beer from damn near everywhere, I still perfer my Bud Light. I want to wake up with an epic hangover after 3 beers, I'll drink something else. If I want to weigh 220 pounds, I'll drink something else. If I want to get massively dehydrated on a hot day, I'll drink something else. Until then, I'll drink me a delicious Bud Light.
By , at
Thu Jun 12, 09:36:00 AM:
InBev is actually Brazilian - which will hopefully spice up the Bud advertising....
By 
Dawnfire82, at
Thu Jun 12, 10:32:00 AM:
Anheuser-Busch raspberry lambic.
Hah!
By , at
Thu Jun 12, 11:49:00 AM:
Recall George Meany, then head of the AFL-CIO, used to say about the Japanese and others buying up Iowa farmland and Rockefeller Center - let them, then we can nationalize it like they do to us.
By , at
Thu Jun 12, 12:08:00 PM:
Belgians improve beer? How are the worst beer brewers in the world going to improve beer, any beer?
By , at
Thu Jun 12, 02:07:00 PM:
I wonder if having an EU country own the Budweiser brand could resurrect this controversy?
JLW III
By , at
Thu Jun 12, 03:41:00 PM:
TH: You are so right about the taste of Bud. Falstaff forever.
By , at
Thu Jun 12, 05:50:00 PM:
If the goal is to bring dollars home, we'd do better at it by selling foreigners our marquee properties. I'm pretty sure we don't have marquis properties in the States.
Asking whether Gov. Blunt is a cynical demagogue or an idiot is a rhetorical question - he's a politician.
By Jim VAT, at
Thu Jun 12, 10:16:00 PM:
Let them by AB. Who cares?
I went to college in Golden, Colorado, home of Coors. A wise college professor told me once, "life is too short for cheap beer". Once I got enough money to afford it, I stopped buying the cheap stuff and started buying to good stuff.
I love the microbrews. I live in Houston now and we have St. Arnold's brewery. They make a great selection of beers. Their Stout is one of the best I have ever had, but it is only available from November to January-ish.
As to Belgians and their beer - they can keep it. They try and make beer like wine or champagne with all sorts of tastes and spices. Frankly, I'll take a Guinness over that crap.
