Achebe, Why do you do this? I did a lot of research on NAFTA a long time ago, so this is fuzzy. NAFTA is bad. There, I said it. It has allowed many US corporations to run south of the border (or threaten to) to avoid minimum wages and environmental laws. Border towns in Mexico are seeing all kinds of diseases and death, pollution, water impurification, etc. NAFTA was never really intended to be what its tagline was - free trade. The American public in general was not allowed to know all of this because the only opposition allowed broad coverage was that nut Ross Perot. There were a great many economists, political commontators, etc who were opposed, but you could only read their views in itty bitty stories or in non-mainstream publications. As I said, this is very rusty, so I cannot think of any more. Just look at Mexico - how has it helped them? It was supposed to. ------------------ Talking to a dead hare about art
Hey rimbaud... this came up b/c of the China Trade status thing. I was watching Fritz Hollings blast what has happened to SC, and it hit a note. I've always had weird feelings about free trade. I want to be a good little human and support free trade... But truly free trade seems to suggest that our exuberant wealth will go down. Is it our responsibility to 'live like Jesus' (marginal utility) so that everyone on the planet gets a little chunk of wealth? ------------------
Hey I was just curious to see if there was anyone here well informed on NAFTA. I know its policy in principle, but I am curious to see how successful it has been. What are the best arguments for/against? Personally I appreciate the notion of free trade, etc. However, I simply doubt that the countries that more & more businesses go to have a competitive wage, and thus drive American salaries down. Is this merely temporary? Am I ill informed? Nearly a decade later, have there been any bad effects on Texas industry? I assume this is safe from partisan rhetoric, since it was largely supported by both republicans & democrats, but I know that's just wishful thinking. Let's try to keep it non political, if at all possible. ------------------
