Re: NAFTA's Strange Bedfellows -- It's Only the Beginning Forbes

[David Farber <farber@central.cis.upenn.edu>]

From: Herb Dordick <hdordick@weber.ucsd.edu>
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 93 16:34:48 PST




The right/left/top/bottom description of the NAFTA debate is
interesting.  Another interpretation is that the debate showed the
beggining or the continuation of class warfare in the US.  How often
did we hear that those who favored NAFTA were in suits and ties and
white shirts and had clean hands and those who opposed NAFTA were in
in overalls and had dirty hands.  How often did we hear that those
that have will benefit but those that do not have will not, will
lose.
Note the types of firms that are listed as beneficiaries: finance,
computers, telecom, biotech,chemoicals and so forth.  While the
losers will be broom making, shoes, textiles etc.  Of course the
last group have already lost out.  More jobs have already been lost
than will be truly due to NAFTA.


In any case, we white shirt beneficiaries cannot sit by and do
nothing and say this is the way of the world or that life is unfair.
It's going to be tough for a lot of people over the next 20 years
whether we had NAFTA or did not have NAFTA.
Herb