International Marketplace essays

International Marketplace essays The Everyday Effects of the International Marketplace American is increasingly connected to the rest of theworld as a global economy becomes more important. We participate in the international marketplace both as providers of goods and as consumers. How we buy and sell affects us both in terms of what goods we can choose from, but also what jobs are available, and what kinds of industries will come to dominate our economy. One of the most important changes in recent years in our place in the global economy is the dropping of trade barriers with such political moves as the approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This has had an impact on our economy which has filtered down to the everyday lives of our people, both as workers and as consumers. On the one hand, NAFTA has been good in that it has caused the dropping of tariffs by Mexico and Canada, making U. S. goods more affordable in those countries. This has helped to stimulate some areas of the American economy by opening up new markets to sell our products abroad. In urging the passage of NAFTA, the Clinton Administration publications said that NAFTA would increase high wage jobs, boost U.S. growth, and expand the base from which U.S. firms and workers could compete in a world-wide market. It predicted job gains of approximately a million due to increased Mexican exports, and suggested that by 1995 there would be approximately 200,000 more high wage jobs created due to the opening of free markets. The industries most expected to benefit were those dealing in computer technology, machine tools, aerospace equipment, telecommunications equipment, electronics, and medical devices all areas where wages were already 12 per cent higher than the national average (Expanding (1993), 3-5). Such growth in jobs would have an effect on the workers and their communities, giving a boost to both individual wealth and the community itself. These benefits spread outward...