What Free Market? . . .

By Jeff Milchen
ReclaimDemocracy.org
July 24, 2005

http://reclaimdemocracy.org/global_corporatization/what_free_market.php

“It's going to be easier to sell your product to 44 million new customers," President Bush proclaimed at a recent speech in North Carolina . The event was designed to create support for passing the Central American “Free Trade” Agreement (CAFTA) before Congress adjourns for summer later this month.

If his aides hadn't screened the crowd to remove the likelihood of hard questions, someone might have asked just which imported goods Nicaraguans, who earn an average of about $2,300 annually, are planning to purchase. Or a skeptic might have questioned how Central America , with a combined economic output less than many U.S. cities, is going to buy enough goods to help reduce a trade deficit that has surged from $38 billion to $617 billion under the trade policies of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

(snip)

Where are those “pro-business” politicians and "free market" think tanks when it's entrepreneurs, not their corporate funders who are undermined by government policies? Apparently they don't like to confront the fact that political power determines which markets will or will not be free. But distinguishing theoretical free markets from the disturbing realities of corporate capitalism is essential for evaluating trade treaties.

The fact that NAFTA's legacy undermines the credibility of almost every argument for CAFTA will not dissuade its boosters -- they're pushing for a vote by the end of July. While the economic impact of CAFTA on the U.S. will be miniscule compared to NAFTA, corporate lobbyists are spending big out of fear that failure to pass CAFTA will derail momentum for global corporatization.

- more . . .

http://reclaimdemocracy.org/global_corporatization/what_free_market.php