Os Estados Unidos como nação devedora: da Independência ate 1914

In 1914 the United States was the world's largest debtor nation. From its independence to 1914, the level of foreign investment in the United States exceeded the level of the country's investments abroad. The article documents the changing characteristics of the inward foreign investments. It reveals the variety of American federal, state, county, and city foreign obligations, emphasizing the shift over time from the public to the private sector. Then it turns to what became the more important foreign investments, those portfolio and direct investments in the private sector. Railroads were the big attraction, but there were far broader foreign involvements in many sectors of the economy. Foreign multinational enterprises were present. Mercedes cars, Michelin tires, and Nestle baby food were made in America before 1914. The article argues that foreign investments carried with them both costs and benefits. Indeed, it maintains that the inward foreign investments had a significant, positive, impact on U.S. economic development, 1776-1914.