NAFTA: Some Lessons in Light of the Dangers CAFTA and an uneven FTAA pose for the Americas

This paper was delivered during the International Education Week, 18 November 2005, at Saint Mary's College. The essay centers on revealing the burden of the social cost that Mexico is currently struggling with, part of which is directly linked to the trade liberalization initiatives as agreed upon by Mexico and other NAFTA signatories beginning January 1, 1994. This social cost is manifest in the regress on the living standards of an increasing population in Mexico. We find support for this claim in analyzing (a) the stagnant level of gross domestic product since the late 1990s; (b) changes in the composition of output and trade as a result of "freer" trade, which have made Mexico more vulnerable to demand shocks from abroad; (c) increases in the levels of effluents from the industry following an insignificant enforcement of existent environmental regulations; (d) a general decline in employment and productivity across key sectors of the economy, and (d) an assault on idiosyncratic and cultural values following the displacement of locally grown produce as a result of a brutal lower opportunity cost production and trade.