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Attention to the Aussies: Free trade benefits EVERYONE! August 04, 2004 ~ 11:48 p.m. I recently had an argument with an Australian on-line friend of mine about the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Australia and the U.S. Although there is nervousness and suspicion in Australia over the FTA, echoing much of the same angst that Americans themselves felt during the heady days of the 1993/94 NAFTA debates�during which time I stood solidly behind Ross Perot, the ultimate anti-NAFTA hellraiser�I think now, as a convert to free trade ideology, that Australians who oppose the free trade agreement are wrong to feel that their smaller economy can�t compete. Free trade uplifts smaller economies; it is not simply about the �big boys.� The following is what I wrote my Aussie friend, in an attempt to educate him about the true nature of free trade: If free trade between nations did not exist, then economies would stagnate. You cannot impose tariffs without costs rising for consumers. Sure, the Greens and other assorted grab-bag Lefties love a policy like that as they are opposed to a consumer culture. Well, sorry, but it�s capitalism, innovation and entrepreneurship that drive a nation�s economy, and free trade, which allows nations to flourish at what goods and/or services they excel at providing, fits into this scenario like a hand to a glove. You too, dear reader, can check the links out: And here * Taken from �Who Benefits from the Free Trade Agreements?� by John W. Warnock. � M.E.M.
Copyright � 2001-2007 by M.E. Manning. All material is written by me, unless explicitly stated otherwise by use of footnotes or bylines. Do not copy or redistribute without my permission.
AMERICA FOR TRUE AMERICANS!
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