RadioBanter - View Single Post

December 31st 03, 05:25 PM

From: Ken Thomas

Thing of it is - there's nothing wrong with NAFTA. We just have to
compete better. It's not a fair playing field - I'll grant you that.
But I bet you that we'll get do just fine. My faith is in free trade.

I used to be there, Ken. But it seems that neoliberal economic "free trade" has
just been a ticket for US companies to relocate their production facilities to
other countries, with far lower wages, far fewer worker safety laws, and far
fewer environmental regulations. No matter how much we strive to be increase
our competition efficiency, companies will always save money on wages and
regulatory avoidance by moving outside the US. We permanently lose jobs in the
US and face incredible trade imbalances (a tpoic you won't hear Republicans
addressing!). Those foreign counties don't really benefit, either, since they
face environmental degradations and worker safety accidents.

We used to think that corporations were the best way to avoid state-based
warfare. Now, under Bush, we see how turning the corporations loose might just
be a path for corporations to push states into warfare for profit-based
reasons.

Fair trade, not free trade.

Bryant