NAFTA cannot be called anything but an economic disaster for the United States, but that is not to say that profits have not been made. Multinational corporations have seen their profits grow as a result of NAFTA, but those profits have not created jobs in the United States. When the public is sold on free trade agreements, they are told that free trade agreements create economic activity through increased trade. Unfortunately for American workers, that economic activity usually means a few rich individuals are profiting at their expense.
Tag Archives: Jobs
Bonds Could Help Save American Manufacturing
American manufacturing is in desperate need of help. In the long run it needs a comprehensive strategy that includes infrastructure improvements, investment in education, and most importantly trade reform, but there are actions our country could take in the short term as well.
WTO Pushes “Made in the World”
“Made in China” is seen on a lot of products sold in the United States today, but if the World Trade Organization (WTO) had its way we wouldn’t think about things in this manner. The WTO is pushing an initiative called “Made in the World” that seeks to get people to accept that products are now assembled from sources across the globe. With this program and a new measure of trade based in value-added, they hope to foster more interdependence and decrease opposition to trade liberalization. This may be a good PR move for the WTO and its agenda, but it doesn’t change the facts: trade still picks winners and losers, and the United States consistently finds itself in the “losers” column.
Free Trade’s Effect on the American Economy
Free trade has become the unjustifiable status quo that has devastated American industries and American jobs. In 2007, then-Senator Barack Obama said to a group in New York, “[l]ike all of you, I believe in free trade, but we have to acknowledge that for millions of Americans, its burdens have been outweighing its benefits.”This quote sums up the position free trade has all too often been given in our society. It is propped up as something that should be beneficial while the facts point in the other direction.
U.S. Neglecting Emerging Industries
The national debt in the United States continues to climb, and we have little to show for the spending that got us there. While foreign nations continue to invest vast sums in new and profitable industries, the United States is wasting billions of dollars on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and funneling money into programs that do nothing to build real wealth or increase the prosperity of everyday Americans.














