I agree that the history of the World has always debated the concept of Free Trade and has sometimes, unfortunately opted for Protectionism. But that does not mean that Free Trade should not be viewed as a basic human right in a Democracy,
I'm sorry Rarebird... I would definitely have to disagree with you.
Free trade principles can exist in any capitalist economy (or even in a mixed economy to a lesser extent although that may sound odd). However, Free Trade, to be truly thus, must be FAIR TRADE. That means that govt subsidies, currency manipulations (to gain an exporting edge), and labor relations must be comensurate.
Now for economies such as the US and EEC, or even Japan, all of which share comparable economic bases, there should be little preventing their respective govts from adopting tariff free trade relations. They are operating from substantially the same "playing field" with wages, per capita GNP, and quality of living being almost indistinguishable from one another.
But then we have the problem of nations with massive quantities of cheap labor available to them (eg: China, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico.. etc), poorly defined political structures, overly incestuous governmental/business relationships, and a willingness to subsidize entire industries to gain marketshare..
Now Pat Buchanan has some very good points about how NAFTA has created conditions where US manufacturing jobs have been lost to cheaper labor. But then again, on a domestic level, we see the same process occur as factories leave one section of the country for cheaper locales in other states (usually drawn by favorable local tax exemptions to boot).
The point is that democratic govts may be the best proponents of free trade, but that hardly makes them any less interested in protecting their local parochial interests when it chooses them. And if I'm not mistaken, Pinochet, while dictator of Chile, was aggressively pursuing free trade principles and capitalistic reforms.
What IS required is transparency in these relationships, with proper steps taken to insure that the weaker economy takes the necessary steps to avoid using its cheap labor as an economic weapon to the disadvantage of the stronger economy.
I'm a firm advocate of free trade. But that trade must be fair and take into consideration the nation who is opening up their markets to developing economies.
Regards,
Ron |
