Listen.Internalize.Effect
Free Trade: At what cost?
Maria Hornung
Issue date: 10/31/07 Section: News
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According to Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC, "free trade" is a marketing slogan rather than a description of the actual policy that is being implemented. He claims that these agreements, including CAFTA, increase some of the most costly barriers to international trade (such as in pharmaceuticals) while lowering others (e.g., for subsidized US agricultural exports).
As for here in the United States, one statistic used by supporters of free-trade agreements says that the average household has gained $10,000 from free trade. However, Weisbrot argues "The reality is the opposite: the losses are dispersed among the majority of workers through lower wages. The gains are concentrated among the big corporations who own our Congress and lobby for 'free trade'." So the question to ask is who truly benefits from these 'free-trade' agreements, and at what cost to the majority of the population?
1 U.S. Department of State: Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
2 "After the Storm: The Politics of the Post-CAFTA US Trade Agenda." Eric Jacobstein is the manager for legislative affairs at the Inter-American Dialogue. He directs both the Dialogue's work with the U.S. Congress and its inter-American legislative network.
3 The SHARE Foundation: CAFTA Educational Packet http://www.share-elsalvador.org/cafta/educ_pack.htm
4 Critics: CAFTA Trade Pact Will Cost US Jobs and Hurt Already Impoverished Central American Countries by Emad Mekay
As for here in the United States, one statistic used by supporters of free-trade agreements says that the average household has gained $10,000 from free trade. However, Weisbrot argues "The reality is the opposite: the losses are dispersed among the majority of workers through lower wages. The gains are concentrated among the big corporations who own our Congress and lobby for 'free trade'." So the question to ask is who truly benefits from these 'free-trade' agreements, and at what cost to the majority of the population?
1 U.S. Department of State: Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
2 "After the Storm: The Politics of the Post-CAFTA US Trade Agenda." Eric Jacobstein is the manager for legislative affairs at the Inter-American Dialogue. He directs both the Dialogue's work with the U.S. Congress and its inter-American legislative network.
3 The SHARE Foundation: CAFTA Educational Packet http://www.share-elsalvador.org/cafta/educ_pack.htm
4 Critics: CAFTA Trade Pact Will Cost US Jobs and Hurt Already Impoverished Central American Countries by Emad Mekay
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