Europe is invading America. Moisés Naím, editor in chief of Foreign Policy magazine, believes that European companies are starting to take over in the United States. “They are … gobbling up all kinds of U.S. corporations—a trend that will be far more permanent, consequential and politically charged than Europeans’ widely noticed shopping sprees for gadgets or apartments,” he writes.

It is hardly surprising. The dollar has plunged over the past few years. A company that would have cost €550 million five years ago would only cost €319 million today.

The sale sign is up, and the bargain hunters are here.

In his article, Naim gives some examples of the larger firms that have set up in the U.S.:

Some manifestations of the Euroinvasion are already clearly visible. Germany’s Thyssen-Krupp AG is investing $3.7 billion in a steel plant in Alabama. France’s Alstom, a manufacturer of high-speed trains and turbines, is building a major factory in Tennessee. Other European companies such as Italy’s Fiat have decided to reenter the U.S. market after long hiatuses, while bmw and Daimler are substantially expanding their manufacturing presence. Recently, by my calculations, the market value of the Spanish bank Banco Santander surpassed the value of Citigroup, the standard-bearer of the U.S. banking industry. It’s only natural to expect that European banks such as Santander will expand their U.S. presence by taking advantage of the fact that the subprime crisis has left many U.S. financial institutions far cheaper.But the Euroinvasion will be much more than a few headline-grabbing mega-deals. It will consist of thousands of smaller transactions in which midsize European companies swoop in to buy U.S. companies for what will seem like a bargain.

Power companies are also looking to the U.S. to expand. European competitors are forking out billions of dollars to purchase U.S. firms.

So what?

The traditional debate about whether foreign ownership is a good thing aside, this trend represents a major shift in global economic leadership. The weak dollar has empowered Europe. With Iran refusing to trade in dollars, and the euro becoming the world’s strong suit, watch for global economic dominance to switch away from the U.S. and toward Europe. As countries are virtually bought up by Europe, Europe’s power to regulate foreign markets will expand. The world will have to play by its rules.

The Trumpet has been prophesying for years that the world economy would soon revolve around Europe. The weak dollar is hastening this eventuality. Soon the European Union will be the world’s dominant economy.