Free Trade Fact of the Day
Posted July 29th, 2008 at 10.30am in American Leadership.
Responding to Barack Obama’s promise to unilaterally renegotiate NAFTA, President George H.W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers chairman Michael Boskin writes in the Wall Street Journal:
[S]ince Nafta was passed (relative to the comparable period before passage), U.S. manufacturing output grew more rapidly and reached an all-time high last year; the average unemployment rate declined as employment grew 24%; real hourly compensation in the business sector grew twice as fast as before; agricultural exports destined for Canada and Mexico have grown substantially and trade among the three nations has tripled; Mexican wages have risen each year since the peso crisis of 1994; and the two binational Nafta environmental institutions have provided nearly $1 billion for 135 environmental infrastructure projects along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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History teaches us that high taxes and protectionism are not conducive to a thriving economy, the extreme case being the higher taxes and tariffs that deepened the Great Depression. While such a policy mix would be a real change, as philosophers remind us, change is not always progress.
- Author: Conn Carroll
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July 29, 2008 Darvin Dowdy, Houston, TX writes:
Its unfortunate that Republicans are so inflexible regarding Nafta. Nafta must be revisited and adjustments made. Few are calling for the baby to be thrown out with the bath water!
An example being what will happen to the U.S. trucking industry if left unchecked? Mexican & Canadian drivers on U.S. taxpayer funded highways without work permits/visas - totally unacceptable. And the issuance of these visa’s must be tied directly to the employment figures of U.S. truck drivers/owner operators. This is one area where Obama will get massive support from the Teamsters and OOIDA. And I don’t think either org really wants to link up with the likes of Barry O. But they may have to out of necessity.
Even before Nafta, Ronald Reagan empathized with the truckers which is why he was endorsed twice by the Teamsters.
If McCain would come out and address this one aspect of Nafta positively, he could take those 2 endorsements away from Obama. Teamsters - 1.5 million grateful members / OOIDA - 160K grateful members. Or there abouts’.
But the most important piece of this puzzle must be put in place. Our national security. Loads must be dropped, warehoused and inspected coming into our nation. For now, thanks to you unrestrained free traders, our Sovereign borders are being seriously breached and we are in danger. You must understand that making $ must not be the first or only priority. That mentality translates into one of pure greed. Darvin Dowdy