Commentary
During our visit, we observed a democracy that has learned from its difficult past and is working toward an even more dynamic future.
Sarah Yerkes, Natalie Triche
Report
NAFTA's Promise and Reality: Lessons from Mexico for the Hemishphere
This report from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace examines the impact of NAFTA after ten years.
Published on Nov 9, 2003
Source: Carnegie
This report from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace examines the impact of NAFTA after ten years. The report asks:
- whether NAFTA has achieved-or is on track to achieve-its policy objectives;
- what impact it has had on the lives and livelihoods of North Americans, particularly Mexicans; and
- what lessons can be drawn for future trade policy for the US and for developing countries that negotiate trade pacts with the US.
To answer these questions, the authors looked beyond the two headline figures that have typically been used to measure the impact of NAFTA: the increase in the volume of trade between the countries and the increase in the flow of foreign investment.
Click on the link above to read the full text.
Read the Spanish translation.
New York Times 11/19/03 article (may require free registration)
About the Authors
Sandra Polaski is director of Carnegie’s Trade, Equity, and Development Project. Demetrios G. Papademetriou is co-director and co-founder of the Migration Policy Institute. Scott Vaughan, formerly a visiting scholar with Carnegie's Trade, Equity, and Development Project, is director of the Unit for Sustainable Development and Environment at the Organization of American States. John Audley, formerly director of Carnegie's Trade, Equity, and Development Project, is senior transatlantic advisor at the German Marshall Fund.
*Errata:
In Figure 10 (page 25) the trend line labeled "wages" inadvertantly showed unit labor costs. The new figure correctly presents the data on wages.
On page 27, the study cited in footnote 37 claims that NAFTA eliminated 766,000 net jobs during its first seven years. The text has been changed to reflect this.
About the Authors
Dr. Demetrios Papademetriou
Former Senior Associate
Mr. John Audley
Former Senior Associate
Ms. Sandra Polaski
Former Senior Associate, Director, Trade, Equity and Development Program
Until April 2002, Polaski served as the U.S. Secretary of State’s Special Representative for International Labor Affairs, the senior State Department official dealing with such matters.
Mr. Scott Vaughan
Former Visiting Scholar
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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