The day after President Bush signed CAFTA, which is essentially a trade agreement for capital but not for labor, I found this neat report on Building a North American Community.
We ought to follow the European model of integration among Canada, Mexico and the United States instead of just the corporate model of a trinational trade agreement.
Our eonomies are intertwined now. Just look at all the Mexicans in the U.S. now, many of whom are here because of NAFTA-induced economic policies that pushed the peasants out of their own nation and into the U.S.
It is in the United States' interest to invest in a prosperous Mexico. We should figure out a way to raise the living standard in Mexico -- which will help alleviate the downward pressure on wages in the U.S. and stem the flow of illegal immigration. Plus, it will create more customers for our products.
We spend a fortune on border control. It would be smart if we could find a way not to pat that cost with an open border -- or a secure North American border. No Mexican terrorists came across the Rio Grande to hurt us -- they come from the South to work.
Read the report, or this summary called the Chairmens' Statement, especially the parts on dramatically increasing the educational exchanges among our three nations (for something the State of Illinois can do).
5 comments:
Dan...thanks for posting this report! Very helpful for my new project and interests!!!!
I agree... but I think that means we're better off investing in a Mexican border with Central America instead of our US-Mexico border, so we can have a much more fluid Mexico-U.S. border.
We should have free movement of labor between CAFTA and NAFTA members. The border is nuts. Problem is Republicans will come along to this way of though long before the Dems will.
Another interesting twist is the movement south of US retirees to Mexico. That's a growing movement too. Often overlooked. I had some links but can't lay my hands on them at the moment.
We should add Turkey to this agreement if their rejected by the EU. Bush has already suggested that.... as we should maybe Iraq.
The Council on Foreign Relations! Next thing we know, you'll be taking up with the Bilderbergers?
It's interesting about the cultural exchanges, isn't it? We should have a huge US-Mexico-Canada exchange program for college students. And we don't. We send more college kids to Europe and import more college kids from Asia than anywhere else. That's something the State of Illinois can do.
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