Foreign firms are taking advantage of the weaker dollar to buy US companies at a record pace that is boosting investment here but also raising fears about a potential loss of jobs and autonomy.

“We could be looking at the world’s largest tag sale if we continue to see declines in the dollar,” said Donald Klepper-Smith, chief economist for the New Haven firm DataCore Partners.

Since July of 2009, the 10 largest M&A deals have involved foreign companies acquiring American firms, according to data from Thomson Financial.

The increase in foreign acquisitions is helping buoy America’s economy by bringing in additional capital and adding jobs, according to a new report published yesterday by the Organization for International Investment. The report, by a professor of international economics at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Matthew Slaughter, found that America has received $2 trillion in investments as a result of foreign purchases of American companies over the past two decades.

Moreover, foreign-owned companies employ more than 5 million Americans — including 377,000 New Yorkers — and pay them 31.8% more on average than the rest of the private sector.  (WFBBDDZXXGPT)