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Showing Original Post only (View all)After 20 Years, NAFTA Leaves Mexico’s Economy in Ruins [View all]
from truthdig:
After 20 Years, NAFTA Leaves Mexicos Economy in Ruins
Posted on Jan 9, 2014
By Sonali Kolhatkar
Twenty years ago, on Jan. 1, 1994, a trade deal championed by Democratic President Bill Clinton went into effect. The North American Free Trade Agreement was meant to integrate the economies of the United States, Canada and Mexico by breaking down trade barriers among them, creating jobs and closing the wage gap between the U.S. and Mexico.
What in fact happened under NAFTA was that heavily subsidized U.S. corn flooded the Mexican market, putting millions of farmers out of work. Multinational corporations opened up factories creating low-wage jobs at the expense of organized labor and the environment. This, in turn, drove waves of migration north.
Meanwhile, corporate profits soared, and Mexico boasted the richest man in the world, Carlos Slim. Walmart and Krispy Kreme conquered Mexico, and ordinary Mexicans had access to the same consumer goods as their neighbors to the north. The economies of all three nations, measured only by GDP rather than jobs or wages, were pronounced grand successes, even though the U.S. and Canada disproportionately reaped more financial benefits.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., manufacturing jobs fell dramatically and organized labor lost even more clout. The Great Recession of 2008 worsened the downward trend, especially for Mexicans. Mexicos economy, tied intimately to the U.S. because of NAFTA, suffered more than any other country in Latin America. .........................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/after_20_years_nafta_leaves_mexicos_economy_in_ruins_20140109
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Proponents always say nice things about terrible ideas...and those that author them.
R. Daneel Olivaw
Jan 2014
#11
And NAFTA / Clinton were one reason we lost a lot of blue collar votes in places like rural Virginia
X_Digger
Jan 2014
#3
China produces 4 times the steel we did even when we were number one in the world. From
doc03
Jan 2014
#25
"working harder" = No. Investing in new plant & equipment. But part of that is foreign capital
El_Johns
Jan 2014
#26
NAFTA and welfare reform is why I stopped being a registered Democrat...
Luminous Animal
Jan 2014
#16