Hopes and Prospects: on Free Trade
Noam Chomsky:
NAFTA hurts working people in US, Mexico, & Canada
One goal of NAFTA was to "lock Mexico in" to the so-called reforms of the 1980s, which created billionaires at about the same rate as they enhanced poverty. These "reforms" are the great benefit to the US owners, managers, and investors, though not to
working people. NAFTA was one of those rare treaties that managed to harm the working populations in all countries participating: Canada, the US, and Mexico. The US labor movement had proposed alternatives that would have benefitted the workforce in all
3 countries. Similar proposals were developed by Congress's Office of Technology Assessment (since disbanded). The proposals were never entered to the political agenda, and were even barred from the media. The attraction of NAFTA for North
American elites, the business press reported, was "precisely that it would tie the hands of the current future governments" of Mexico with regard to the economic policy. In brief, NAFTA, duly imposed by executive power, in opposition to the public will.
Source: Hopes and Prospects, by Noam Chomsky, p. 35-36
Jun 1, 2010
Noam Chomsky:
US "level playing field" means "kicking away the ladder"
Historically, trade liberalization has been the outcome rather than the cause of economic development. From an extensive review, it is difficult to find another case where the facts so contradict dominant theory [as the theory] concerning the negative
impact on protectionism. The conclusion holds into the twentieth century, when other forms of market interference become more prominent.The "dominant theory" is that of the rich and powerful, who have regularly advocated liberalization for others,
and sometimes for themselves as well, once they have achieved a dominant position and hence are willing to face competition on a "level playing field"--that is, one sharply tilted in their favor. The stand is sometimes called "kicking away the ladder" by
economic historians: first we violate the rules to climb to the top, then we kick way the ladder so that you cannot follow us, and we righteously proclaim: "Let's play fair, on a level playing field."
Source: Hopes and Prospects, by Noam Chomsky, p. 76
Jun 1, 2010
Ronald Reagan:
US agribusiness subsidies squelched Haitian rice exports
Aristide was also barred [by the US] from providing any protection for the economy. Haitian rice farmers are efficient, but cannot compete with US agribusiness that relies on huge government subsidies, thanks largely to Reagan, anointed as the high pries
of free trade with little regard to his record of extreme protectionism and state intervention in the economy. Other small businesses were destroyed by US dumping which Haiti was powerless to prevent under the imposed conditions of economy rationality.
Source: Hopes and Prospects, by Noam Chomsky, p. 11-12
Jun 1, 2010
Page last updated: Jul 19, 2011