Pintmaster

Xenophobia in the Ports – Dubai Ports World and the war on terrorism

All the buzz around the watercooler has been about the battle for our Ports, the latest theater in the war on terrorism. CNBC is now talking about the coming backlash on the ports deal that will no doubt create investor pessimism in our economy – smart move sheep in congress. The only guy with the cojones to do the right thing for the country (Dubai Ports World is not a threat to our national security) – surprisingly was President Bush - read this article for more info.

The interesting thing however is that the idea of foreign operators running ports is not one that our wonderfully open and free economy is unique in offering (generally). The Dubai Ports World website is down, however, if you take a look at the PSA (Port of Singapore Authority) website, http://www.internationalpsa.com/, a government run company in Singapore, you will see that they operate 19 ports in 11 countries: http://www.internationalpsa.com/factsheet/map.html. I believe that Dubai Ports World also has a similar configuration.

Be aware of the facts so that when people say “The US is so open – no one else would even let a foreign entity operate their ports”, you will understand that this is a common thing- an important fact that is being left out of the news reports.

Things to consider
Before jumping on the bashing Arab countries bandwagon, think about a few things

1. Is receiving an injection of capital into our economy from an Arab country a bad thing?
2. Will foreign nationals be screening cargo for nuclear weapons, drugs, etc... (answer is no - this will be done by American union workers)
3. What is the real impact of a foreign company operating our ports?