Safehaven | Now we have CAFTA and that Rhymes with NAFTA... More Trouble in River City?

August 19, 2005

Now we have CAFTA and that Rhymes with NAFTA... More Trouble in River City?
by Douglas R. Gillespie

Summary

I'm a solid capitalist, one who was once a staunch advocate of free trade. However, in 1992, when discussions of the North America Free Trade Agreement were running hot and heavy, I sensed something was amiss.

In the final analysis, I wound up opposing the passage of NAFTA. Moreover, that was the point in time at which I decided that if NAFTA had come to represent the embodiment of free trade, I no longer could be a free-trader. To succeed, "free trade" and "fair trade" must be synonymous. What I have come sadly to accept is that this simply is not achievable.

Now along comes the Central America Free Trade Agreement or "CAFTA." To be honest, I was summarily opposed to it, because its selling points had much too familiar a ring.

Continue to Gillespie Research for the balance of the essay: http://www.gillespieresearch.com/cgi-bin/s/article/id=635

Douglas R. Gillespie, Sr.
Gillespie Research Associates
165 Sheridan Avenue
HO-HO-KUS, NJ 07423
201-447-5743

Doug Gillespie oversees his own financial-market and economic consulting firm, Gillespie Research Associates. For a complimentary sample of Dougs material, e-mail him at drgillespiesr@aol.com.