Reply #3: DLC & Free Trade: (outsourcing jobs to increase investor wealth)

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DLC | Blueprint Magazine | February 7, 2001
The Free Trade Area of the Americas: Why the United States Must Take the Lead
By Jenny Bates

Exactly three months after moving into the White House, the new president will face one of the biggest foreign policy challenges -- and opportunities -- of his term. In April 2001, at the Summit of the Americas in Quebec, he can assert U.S. leadership in the creation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) -- a $10 trillion common market of 800 million people stretching from the Bering Strait to Tierra del Fuego. By taking the lead at a critical moment in the FTAA's formation, the president can ensure that it reflects U.S. interests and values while locking in Latin America's movement toward democracy and economic reforms. Failure to lead the way into this enormous and unprecedented free market, furthermore, would be costly: The United States could be shut out of Latin American markets, regional protectionism would rise, and the leadership vacuum would be filled by another powerful player such as Brazil.

Preparations for the FTAA -- which will reduce barriers to trade, spurring competition and economic growth throughout the hemisphere -- have been under way since 1994, and formal negotiations were launched in 1998. And while the U.S. government has publicly supported the process, the administration's attention has mostly been elsewhere as working groups did the initial yeomanship of trade talks. Now, however, the momentum to create this vast new trade area is entering its crucial final phase. Over the next two or three years, the most important decisions will be made. If the result is to be favorable to the United States, both economically and politically, White House leadership is urgently called for. As the largest player in the region, the United States cannot afford to sit on the sidelines.

There are other reasons why the FTAA should be a top priority for the new president. Locking in the economic reforms among Latin American economies of the past two decades, for example, will spur continued growth and reinforce pressure for political reform. Such a commitment will reduce risk for investors, spur inflows of much-needed foreign capital, and promote development. Such economic liberalization can also challenge powerful, entrenched interests and liberate opposition forces to push for democratic change. Indeed, in most countries in the region, economic reform has gone hand-in-hand with progress on the political front. According to a Freedom House study, the major economies of Latin America have moved from "unfree" to "free" since the 1970s (though there has been some danger of backsliding in the Andean region recently).

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http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=108&subid=206&contentid=2974

AND THEY REMAIN COMMITTED:



http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ka.cfm?kaid=108