NAFTA Follies ...

In the FYI Department …

David Sirota has a an interesting article on why NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) hasn’t done what it promised. Wage disparaties are growing in Mexico – and here too – while immigration from Mexico has increased. Oh, and Mexico can now boast of being home to richest man in the world, with Carlos Slim (yeah, that’s his real name). And, believe me, this achievement can’t be racked up to Slim’s entrepreneurial spirit alone.

There are many reasons why NAFTA has not worked out as promised. Among them, as I noted over 12 years ago, is that there was never a plan for real investments in Mexico’s “infrastructures” (this article is in Spanish) and NAFTA’s failure to address real labor standards.

My friends, labor standards matter. Markets don’t simply work themselves out. You can bet this will be a topic of deeper discussion down the road. In fact, Duane Moore, has Mark Ayers, President of the National Building Trades of the AFL-CIO coming on December 8 to discuss these and other issues. Those of you interested in what organized labor can, and has done, for working families will want to tune in.