Comments on: Less Government http://mccs1977.com/2007/10/17/less-government/ Welcome to the Machine Fri, 18 Feb 2011 03:34:56 +0000 hourly 1 By: Fallenmonk http://mccs1977.com/2007/10/17/less-government/comment-page-1/#comment-6902 Fallenmonk Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:47:38 +0000 http://mccs1977.com/2007/10/17/less-government/#comment-6902 Thanks for the links Frederick. I will try and find some time today to read them but I can see from the excerpt that they recognize the distortion in the market we have caused by our policies. Thanks for the links Frederick. I will try and find some time today to read them but I can see from the excerpt that they recognize the distortion in the market we have caused by our policies.

]]> By: Frederick http://mccs1977.com/2007/10/17/less-government/comment-page-1/#comment-6900 Frederick Thu, 18 Oct 2007 00:51:38 +0000 http://mccs1977.com/2007/10/17/less-government/#comment-6900 Found something closely related today, Fallenmonk: <a href="http://liberallymirth.wordpress.com/2007/10/16/top-25-censored-stories-of-2008/" rel="nofollow"># 13 Immigrant Roundups to Gain Cheap Labor for US Corporate Giants</a> Sources: Truthout, January 27, 2007 Title: “Which Side Are You On?” Author: David Bacon http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012907L.shtml The Nation, February 6, 2007 Title: “Workers, Not Guests” Author: David Bacon http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020607LB.shtml Foreign Policy in Focus, February 26, 2007 Title: “Migrants: Globalization’s Junk Mail?” Author: Laura Carlsen http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4022 Student Researcher: Fernanda Borras Faculty Evaluator: Diana Grant, Ph.D. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) flooded Mexico with cheap subsidized US agricultural products that displaced millions of Mexican farmers. Between 2000 and 2005, Mexico lost 900,000 rural jobs and 700,000 industrial jobs, resulting in deep unemployment throughout the country. Desperate poverty has forced millions of Mexican workers north in order to feed their families. The National Campesino Front estimates that two million farmers have been displaced by NAFTA, in many cases related to the increase in US imports. In 1994, the first year of the agreement, the United States exported $4.59 billion of agricultural products to Mexico, according to the Department of Agriculture. By 2006 the figure had risen to $9.85 billion—an increase of 114 percent. US exports of corn, Mexico’s staple crop and largest source of rural employment, alone doubled to over $2.5 billion in 2006. This combination of unemployment in Mexico, the huge gap between salaries in the United States and Mexico, and US demand for cheap labor to compete on global markets has created the current situation. The demand for undocumented labor in the US economy is structural. It is not just a few companies seeking to cut corners. These are not just jobs that “US workers won’t take.” Migrants work in nearly all low-paying occupations and have become essential to the US economy in the age of global competition. <a href="http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2008/index.htm" rel="nofollow">Read the whole thing</a>... Found something closely related today, Fallenmonk:

# 13 Immigrant Roundups to Gain Cheap Labor for US Corporate Giants

Sources:
Truthout, January 27, 2007
Title: “Which Side Are You On?”
Author: David Bacon
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012907L.shtml

The Nation, February 6, 2007
Title: “Workers, Not Guests”
Author: David Bacon
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/020607LB.shtml

Foreign Policy in Focus, February 26, 2007
Title: “Migrants: Globalization’s Junk Mail?”
Author: Laura Carlsen
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4022

Student Researcher: Fernanda Borras
Faculty Evaluator: Diana Grant, Ph.D.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) flooded Mexico with cheap subsidized US agricultural products that displaced millions of Mexican farmers. Between 2000 and 2005, Mexico lost 900,000 rural jobs and 700,000 industrial jobs, resulting in deep unemployment throughout the country. Desperate poverty has forced millions of Mexican workers north in order to feed their families.

The National Campesino Front estimates that two million farmers have been displaced by NAFTA, in many cases related to the increase in US imports. In 1994, the first year of the agreement, the United States exported $4.59 billion of agricultural products to Mexico, according to the Department of Agriculture. By 2006 the figure had risen to $9.85 billion—an increase of 114 percent. US exports of corn, Mexico’s staple crop and largest source of rural employment, alone doubled to over $2.5 billion in 2006.

This combination of unemployment in Mexico, the huge gap between salaries in the United States and Mexico, and US demand for cheap labor to compete on global markets has created the current situation. The demand for undocumented labor in the US economy is structural. It is not just a few companies seeking to cut corners. These are not just jobs that “US workers won’t take.” Migrants work in nearly all low-paying occupations and have become essential to the US economy in the age of global competition.

Read the whole thing…

]]> By: Fallenmonk http://mccs1977.com/2007/10/17/less-government/comment-page-1/#comment-6897 Fallenmonk Wed, 17 Oct 2007 22:35:07 +0000 http://mccs1977.com/2007/10/17/less-government/#comment-6897 While I don't agree with all the premises in the article the reality is that the Farm Bill and the subsidies we provide agribusiness in this country coupled with our high tariffs on imported food severely distort the markets for food globally. The Farm Bill needs a major overhaul...it needs to be refocused to encourage sustainable agriculture and small local production. We need to let market forces operate on a more level field. If farmers in Mexico got a reasonable price for their products there might be less incentive to pack up and move to the U.S. The entire farm subsidy system is fubar and needs to be redone. While I don’t agree with all the premises in the article the reality is that the Farm Bill and the subsidies we provide agribusiness in this country coupled with our high tariffs on imported food severely distort the markets for food globally. The Farm Bill needs a major overhaul…it needs to be refocused to encourage sustainable agriculture and small local production. We need to let market forces operate on a more level field.
If farmers in Mexico got a reasonable price for their products there might be less incentive to pack up and move to the U.S.
The entire farm subsidy system is fubar and needs to be redone.

]]> By: Randal Graves http://mccs1977.com/2007/10/17/less-government/comment-page-1/#comment-6892 Randal Graves Wed, 17 Oct 2007 17:24:36 +0000 http://mccs1977.com/2007/10/17/less-government/#comment-6892 Reminds of something <a href="http://www.bobharris.com/content/view/1524/1/" rel="nofollow">Bob Harris had up at his place</a>, where the small guy got some help. Sure, it's a little bit different in Malawi compared to the US, but every little deviation from the wingnuts' warped version of the free market is a good idea. Reminds of something Bob Harris had up at his place, where the small guy got some help. Sure, it’s a little bit different in Malawi compared to the US, but every little deviation from the wingnuts’ warped version of the free market is a good idea.

]]>