The Mexican Economy and NAFTA

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the problems with Mexico's economy and the implications of these problems. The paper then focuses on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the implementation of certain global programs by NAFTA that the organization hoped would change the economic situation. It looks at the challenges faced by the programs and by NAFTA in general and how the organization can move forward in the best interests of the Mexican economy.

From the Paper:

"Proponents of NAFTA claimed that the agreement would benefit Mexico and lead to a major improvement in the Mexican economy, but this has not happened sufficiently to reduce the flow of workers northward. By any measure, the problem is so ingrained and so acute that it cannot be solved by any one action and cannot be solved rapidly. What is needed is a long-term investment plan to help improve the Mexican economy, but this may not take place so long as American businesses are relying so heavily on low wags in Mexico as a way of cutting costs in the U.S. companies relocating to Mexico have to offer more benefits to Mexican workers to improve the standard of living and keep workers at home. The only way to achieve this would be for the Mexican government to impose certain requirements, and this is not likely to happen because doing so would drive some American companies away and make the employment picture even worse. What is really needed is a major overhaul of the Mexican economy, and that is a long-term project that may have already been started with the change in leadership from the PRI alone to a more competitive political environment, though the evidence for major change is not yet that firm."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Faux, Jeff. "How NAFTA Failed Mexico: Immigration Is Not a Development Policy." The American Prospect, Volume 14, Issue 7 (July-August 2003), 35.
• Fitzgerald, David. "Nationality and Migration in Modern Mexico." Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Volume 31, Issue 1 (2005), 171.
• Greider, William. One World, Ready or Not. New york: Simon and Schuster, 1997.
• Baker, S., G. Smith, & E. Weiner. "NAFTA: The 'side agreements' take center stage." Business Week (19 April 1993), 84-92.
• Castaneda, J.G. & C. Heredia "The Wrong Free-trade Deal?" World Press Review (March, 1993),14-17.

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