I would have to disagree on your comments on 'free trade'. I would ask you what companies use these components, as you mentioned car parts, and air craft engines among your list. Most of the companies I am aware of use these parts to manufacture cars, air craft, med equipment (that is assembled with many other parts made in Mexico or Canada)and then resold to the U.S. as a greater bill of materials. This is where most of us have a problem with Nafta, the assembly of this greater bill of materials used to be done here in the states. We have shipped these jobs over because of cost you are correct. But the cost is largely associated with workman's comp issues, restrictions on pollution, zoning issues with cities. Now the restrictions on pollution are in theory a good thing, they keep companies honest, the only problem is these guys can pack up go to Mexico and dump waste right into the river, so what have we really saved? Nafta however is nothing compared to China and the problems they have created. Though China has been good for the stock market, their practices are less than ethical, or moral. We have 'outsourced' everything we possibly can to China because their labor cost our 1/40 of American workers let alone the lack of the above-mentioned problems concerning the environment, and city administrators. Though this helps the corporate metrics on disclosure day on Wall Street, it cost millions of American jobs. And as for the increase in average pay across the country, I am an mechanical engineer, and the starting salary in my area in 1998 was 42,000 a year, in 2008 the starting salary is 42,000. In short though free trade can have a positive effect in theory on the overall global economy, I don't believe this has been the case in the Nafta and China experiment.
Erik | 03.05.08 - 11:02 am | #