Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is a free-trader. He means this, he supposes, in a good British Empire 19th Century way. Well… Okay… He is even a 21st Century Free-Trader. So generally his is rather unconcerned when he hears that a British company is being acquired by a UAE-based company.

Of coure, when the companies in question “run” major ports in the US and the sale causes a bit of hullaballoo your Maximum Leader might become a little concerned.

Or not.

In fact, this transaction doesn’t actually concern your Maximum Leader. At least doesn’t concern him for the reasons that seem to bother everyone else. Frankly that bridge was crossed years ago when Chinese companies bought out other companies that run many west coast ports. Pretty much all the major ports in the US are managed by non-US companies. Now should that be a cause for concern or not?

Well lets look at some important facts… No matter who runs them, the ports are physcially located in the US. No foreign nation is going to pack them up and move them somewhere else. Since the ports are physically located in the US, it is likely that they will remain under the jurisdiction of the US government. And the US government is not likely to turn a blind eye to what goes on in the ports. (Although your Maximum Leader doesn’t think that the government is doing enough to “secure” the ports. But that is another post.)

US ports, from what your Maximum Leader reads, seem to be in need of a massive infusion of capital for improvement and upgrade. Further, no American company seems to be interested in infusing that capital or stepping up and running the ports. That is sad. It may fill you with a hollow feeling. But it is a fact of the world economy that US companies don’t want to engage in low-profit capital-intensive businesses if they can avoid them.

The larger issue here, in your Maximum Leader’s mind, is why aren’t US companies more interested in this type of work? He would have to do some research to find out why…

Carry on.