Gary BUTTERWORTH Online

WASHINGTON, DC, USA

NAFTA

has been in the news a lot lately.  Unfortunately, not many people (myself included) really understand it.

A friend asked me today to explain it to him.  I was able to give him the very basics.

I think this is stuff that everyone should know, so I thought I’d post our discussion here.  

If you’d like to learn more, there are plenty of resources available online that are written by people far more knowledgeable than I.  But I think I can explain the very unspecific basics adequately using two mostly-accurate examples:

me: until NAFTA, Mexican truck drivers weren’t allowed to operate in the US.  so, if  you wanted to order something from Mexico, a Mexican truck would drive to the border, then a Mexican guy would off-load the truck and put the contents in a warehouse.  then an American guy would come by the next day, take the stuff out of the warehouse, and put it in an American truck, and deliver it to you.

me: Now, with NAFTA, if the trucking company wants to jump through A TON of bureaucracy, they can SOMETIMES get approval to drive directly into the US

Alan: er, ok 

that, uh, helps speed things up a little… i guess

 

Sent at 1:55 PM on Tuesday

me: but yea, it speeds things up, and it brings down your shipping cost, because the shipping companies don’t have to pay for warehouses and people to load and unload warehouses

so, you get it faster and cheaper

but the warehouse workers lose their jobs

 

Alan: so

who’d complain?

me: and more of the truck drivers you’d see in the US will be spanish speaking

so, people who don’t like spanish speaking truck drivers, and warehouse workers will complain

also, others will complain because now they know that there are fewer warehouse jobs, they won’t be able to get a warehouse job if they ever need one

 

Alan: true

me: personally, i think that’s good, because if people don’t have the safety net of working in a warehouse, they will be more likely to learn more job skills so they can compete for higher-level jobs than working in a warehouse

 

Alan: er

what if they CAN’T!

me: but not everyone agrees with that logic…they say not everyone can learn those higher skills

 

Alan: go to school

have the brains

LOVE the warehouse

etc

me: exactly

 

Alan: YOU ANTI-AMERICAN!

me: that’s the counter-arguement

lol

NAFTA also identifies jobs in which we have labor shortages.  like nurses.  with NAFTA, Mexican and Canadian nurses have a MUCH easier time getting permission to work in US hospitals

so, it’s easier for hospitals to fill their vacancies, which means you’ll get better care when you’re there

me: but bringing in Mexican nurses means nursing jobs pay less

me: (granted, they are still very well paying jobs, but they are no longer VERY WELL paying)

so, faster and cheaper shipping, but fewer warehouse jobs.  better and cheaper hospital care, but nurses don’t make quite as much

almost all economists say that we are better off with these kinds of deals…that there are far more winners than losers, and most people come out ahead

but some people lose out, like the warehouse workers

it’s all about trade-offs

 

Alan: yes

and i don’t like the brownskins

with their funny language

and soft foods

me: generally, the losers are less-educated and working in fields that are becoming outdated.  personally, i don’t beleive that we need to go out of our way to protect losing jobs.  i mean, it must suck to be a typewritter repairman, too.  kinda like being a warehouse worker.  but i don’t think the govt should take special measures to protect your typewritter business

and honestly, i think you’re right…people complain about the economic element

but i think A LOT of times, that’s just an excuse because they are uncomfortable with more brown-skinned people speaking foreign languages

me: but yea, those are the pros and cons of trade agreements in general

NAFTA is a medium-strength trade agreement.  it does more than some, but less than others

i dont’ really know all of the specifics

i’m sure it has problems

but i’m in favor of it in the big picture

 

Alan: i see

nice, man

me: 

 

Alan: i wish i were as informed as you on this

quite embarrassing

me: that’s the thing that bugs me

not about you

 

Alan: grrr

me: but what i just explained is really pretty simple

no reason not to understand it

 

Alan: true

me: but no one actually goes out and explains it

 

Alan: guess there was never a place

to find that

me: they just say it’s bad, and people believe it

yea

 

Alan: ye

p

me: i mean, i’m hardly an expert on it.  i only know maybe 5% of the specifics, if that

but compared to what most people know, i feel like an expert

 

Alan: hahahaha

me: lol

  

Filed under: Current Events, international, Politics Tagged: | NAFTA