In economics, they call it opportunity costs. While this story from the NYT doesn’t mention opportunity cost by name, that’s what it means for America in the long run.
“It would be good if these companies didn’t need all this capital and better if the capital was available in the United States,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, who was a vocal opponent of the DP World deal. “But given the situation that these institutions find themselves in and the fact that there’s a pretty strong credit squeeze, there’s only two choices: Have foreign companies invest in these firms or have massive layoffs.”
If the U.S. Government and Americans, in general, don’t learn to live off less than they make, then the opportunity costs will continue to be very high.