July 31, 2005
RÃÂo Grande Region
Filed under : Uncategorized
El Oso wrote about how he is a supporter of free trade.
I countered:
I don’t know if you know it but I’ve got a BA in economics which means I’ve got an extra piece of paper with which to wipe my ass.
Anyway, I agree that protectionism and subsidizing of some goods when trying to create free trade goes against how free trade SHOULD function, and how it would be great if people didn’t try to protect things like sugar, beets, steal, bras. However, economists tend to do a crappy job at looking at not just fiscial costs but social costs. To me this is where the real problem lies. What are the social costs of having McDonalds in Mexico? What are the social costs of having maquiladroas along the border? What are the social costs of moving away from agricultual based society?
However, wankers (commenters) started to argue that prehaps I was just trying to hold people back to make myself feel better. Here is a paper I wrote back in 2000 for an intro-geography course, about the economic impact of the Rio Grande Region.
Paper removed so that people won’t copy my work. Comments now closed.
No Comments so far ...
Nice. There needs to be more published studies of globalization’s impact on small regions … more case studies.
One of the things I said in my post that didn’t seem to get much attention is, I only support free trade if it comes with open borders. The best workers should be able to migrate freely to the best work.
It seems to be working well in the EU, but the US would never ever agree to it, which is why we should push for some economic regulation to balance our immigration policies.
Comment on July 31, 2005 01:58 pmMy response to this was too long for the comments section, so those who wish the see my response, go here.
Comment on August 2, 2005 08:47 pm