It's important to remember that money is not value. It's a score that's meant to represent value, but the value itself is entirely distinct.
It's true that people work hard for that representation, because we've built systems where the link between the representation and the underlying value is quite strong, but it is still just a number at the end of the day.
I think you should equally be confused about abstractions such as university credentials, or citizenship.
And yes, those others are great examples of this principle. The diploma is just a piece of paper and an entry in the university's records. Set it on fire and I still have all the skills and knowledge. Give me a good solid blow to the head which breaks the skills and knowledge, and you've destroyed what's actually useful and interesting, even though the diploma is completely intact. Likewise, citizenship is only relevant because it convinces other people to let me do things like work, cross borders, and vote (which is a whole other number-that-does-stuff-because-people-happen-to-agree-on-it system).
I'm not confused and I don't think money isn't real. I just understand what it actually is, versus what people agree to do with it. It's a typical example of the map not being the territory. Money exists, but it is not wealth or value. Money in an account is a number. Money as a system is a collective arrangement where money can be exchanged for goods and services, usually.
It did make it easy to raise capital, though, which is nice.
> Plenty of countries have spent billions on new construction in the US and gotten smoked.
Yes, it's owned by foreigners and sends cash overseas but all of the economic activity is here and if push came to shove.. they're not exporting the building.
It's not all gravy, there are issues with having global capital so deeply involved in the country, but it's better than the alternative, there's a reason Americans live so well and its not because they're all smarter or harder working.
As I understand, those investment waves were mostly buying existing assets, not building new ones. From your examples, do you have examples of significant new construction? I do not.
When I think of foreign investment to build things in the US, I mostly think about German/Korean/Japanese auto manufs and Korean/Taiwanese semiconductor manufs. Most people don't understand the massive investment that German/Korean/Japanese auto manufs have made into the US to build and operate plants in the last 30+ years. (This also includes local R&D centers.) It is huge, maybe more that the domestic manufs in aggregate. The same can be said for Korean/Taiwanese semiconductor manufs in the 2020s: The numbers are simply staggering and far exceed domestic producers.
Predominantly US financial assets, like Treasuries and company equity.
Who is "we"? Trade deficit dollars are recycled into assets, which compete with exports in the balance of payments. If you have a big house and fat brokerage account, you win big. If you have a job building shit, you lose big. If you have a job building tradeable shit and a low net worth, may god have mercy on your soul.
If you want the full economist version, "Trade Wars are Class Wars" by Klein and Pettis
No, the alternative is Alexander Hamilton protectionism, which built the country into an industrial superpower that eclipsed the very shadow it was put in place to escape.
What's done is done, though. We successfully sold the industrial base of the USA to the Communist Party of China in order to pump our brokerage accounts. Winning?