NAFTA Begins to Bear its Fruits
By David Eisenberg
Published: 2007-01-08 22:27
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ARTICLE SYNOPSIS:

The politicians selling NAFTA promised it would spur development in Mexico, create millions of jobs, raise wages and diminish the lure of the north. But since NAFTA took effect, Mexico's economy has slowed, jobs have not materialized enough to satisfy a swelling of Mexico's working-age population, and the U.S. has become a magnet for Mexican laborers.

Follow this link to the source article: "In Mexico, 'people do really want to stay'"

COMMENTARY:

"People do really want to stay," said Mayor Ramon Martinez of Mexico's town Tizapan el Alto. However, after NAFTA started wiping out the farming industry, nearly half of the town's 19,000 people have gone north. Mayor Martinez concluded: "We're basically exporters of people."

Mexico's export levels of people are about to radically increase. Mexico's farm country has already been overwhelmed by an influx of crops from the United States. However, once the final provisions of the trade pact engage, NAFTA will open Mexico to unlimited imports of poultry from the U.S., causing Mexican farms to compete with American agribusinesses nurtured by subsidies on the corn that feeds the birds.

The clearest reason why Mexico has not prospered under NAFTA is found on the farm, the workplace for about one-fourth of the population. Huge farms have been developed to grow produce for the U.S. market, but they typically pay about $13 per day. That is not enough to keep the workers home. Mexico's government promised that the pact would add 1 million jobs per year. The reality is that only half that rate was realized.

Additionally, when NAFTA's final provisions take effect, Mexico's fortune will be tied to world markets. Will its economy be able to adjust? Will trade liberalization alter the minds of millions of Mexicans wanting to stay home? The answer is obvious.

Now, if NAFTA has created that much economic chaos, what will things look like if the North American Union gets implemented?

http://www.jbs.org/node/2336