Canadians on a Buying Spree.

An interesting article in the New York Times today (January 20, 2008) about how United States companies are being gobbled up by foreign investors. The front page article raises the spectre of foreign sovereign capital pools buying up major United States assets (do we want China owning our ports) but there is an interesting chart showing the actual numbers inside. Canada shows up in a surprising way when the real numbers are actually revealed.

In 2007 Canadian investors were the largest foreign investors in the United States purchasing over $65.6 million worth of assets. This is to be compared with $28.6 million worth of US assets being bought by Canadians in 2000. By contrast the United Kingdom bought $45 million worth of assets in 2007 compared with $77.1 million in 2000.

It is heartening to see that foreign investment stories are not just about Canada being hollowed out by other countries -- perhaps Canada is doing a little hollowing of its own.