http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/10/13/congress-passes-three-free-trade-agreements/
Congress passed the Columbia, Panama, and South Korea FTA with bipartisan consensus in the past week. Passage of the various free trade agreements could alleviate the economy by increasing employment and exports. Additionally, one of the bills extended aid to workers displaced by foreign competition - they ensure American economic competitiveness in the global market. Passage of the South Korea FTA signaled a message to the international community that both countries are open to free trade.
The article causes an interesting point: if Congress can be unified to pass the controversial FTAs, can Congress pass other bills such as legislation that punishes China for keeping their currency undervalued despite deep divisions in the House and Senate?
Ann Peter
Section: Friday 9:00 AM
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ReplyDeleteI think that these free trade agreements are a great thing. This will allow prices on goods in the United States to go down as well as increase our exports on goods that we are able to make so well and at a cheap price. I know that people argue that FTA's kill jobs, but many of those jobs should have died along time ago since the United States was just protecting a dying field that weren't sustainable in our economy since other places can do those jobs better. Also, jobs in exported related fields will be increasing, so all these FTA's are doing is shifting jobs from one field field to another while lowering overall prices. It all comes down to the law of comparative advantage, and that is what a lot of the critics do not understand.
ReplyDeleteBrad Herrmann
Maness 10am
I don't really see a negative for this scenario. Maybe FTA's kill jobs, but the unemplyment rate is alreay high,so doing this won't hurt the cause that much. Our exports will incrase, and the price of proudcts will most likeley decrase. A factor that should not go unnoticed is South Korea passage. This shows that SOuth Korea is willing to negotiate,and become players in a free trade economy.
ReplyDeletePeter Gountanis
Ryan 10AM
They are negative for everyone else. These free trade zones are great for the developed countries but it allows for the exploitation of the developing and impoverished areas. On top of getting cheap good, we get to import our products duty free into other countries and make even more this way. The only reason South Korea is doing this is so they can start exporting their stuff to us without worrying about costs
ReplyDeleteZachary Tolan
Friday 10:00am, Ryan Maness