Reply #10: Remember "NAFTA will cause a giant sucking sound as jobs go south"?

[gulfcoastliberal]

Well, he was right wasn't he?

A Giant Sucking Sound: One million Mexicans enter the work force each year. They need jobs. To get those jobs, President Salinas and his government have deliberately kept wages down to attract foreign investment. Mexico has vastly expanded its vocational training programs to improve worker skill levels. The Mexican government also offers low-cost loans and tax benefits to companies that build factories in Mexico.

Mexico’s national development strategy is reminiscent of strategies used by Japan, Korea, and Taiwan a generation ago. Like the strategies used by those countries, Mexico’s strategy depends on taking jobs from the US.

The New York Times reports that the skills of Mexican workers already match the skills of 70% of the labor force in the US. Once properly trained, Mexican workers’ productivity and work quality equals that of anyone, anywhere in the world.

Mexico keeps its wages low to attract foreign investment. This strategy has worked.

Source: Save Your Job, Save Our Country, by Ross Perot, p. 41-2 & 47 Jan 1, 1993