Saving Anheuser-Busch

The reaction to the hostile take over of Anheuser-Busch by Belgian InBev is not at all surprising. During these tough economic times is when protectionism usually rears its ugly head. Just this week, two different websites were created to protest the move. SaveBudweiser.com has received over 34,000 signatures and SaveAB.com has received over 12,000 in only a matter of days.

In fact, the Governor of Missouri, Matt Blunt, has ordered state's Department of Economic Development "to explore every option and any opportunity we may have at the state level to help keep Anheuser-Busch where it belongs -- in St. Louis, Missouri." Hmmmm, do I see a law suite coming? Or perhaps the feds even stepping in? I am not an attorney, so I have no idea what recourse, if any, the state will have in keeping this deal from happening. But what I find most disturbing is the outcry from every level in this matter. Put simply, protectionism is NOT a road that we want to go down.

A great case in point is the automotive industry. The past few years we have seen an explosion of foreign automotive manufacturers relocating to our shores, specifically the south east. The merger of Diemer Chrysler helped pave the way for many of these jobs. These manufacturers have obviously come here because it makes great business sense: lower costs for wages (though still very high), tax incentives, cheap available land to build plants, and I could go on and on. What makes us thing that the same thing won't happen with the InBev buyout?

The best thing that we can do to save American jobs in the long run is to embrace these kind of mergers and acquisitions. Embrace the free market! Make it more attractive for foreign companies to come over here and do business.

We must also realize that American assets are on sale. And this has every reason to do with a falling dollar and a slowing economy. And I suspect that this trend will continue for as long as we have our current economic policy of dollar devaluation. We either need to get used to it, or embrace the free markets.