Benefits of CAFTA will flow mainly to Costa Rica's elite, making the country more like its poor neighbors?

Question

http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/254337.html

How can they possibly suspect such a thing?

Come on, Costa Rica, vote it down, won't you?

Yeah, they get to vote.

May the concept catch on, here...

slew, I know about dengue fever, it is already in border towns in Texas.

Thomas, that 90% is nonesense. A LOT of people are against these agreements, look at developing country economists. The mistake made by US economists is that they take GDP as a sign of the 'good' for the US and don't break down which people do and don't benefit.

Answer 1

I am in Costa Rica right now and there is a lot of people against it.But there is some will vote "yes" to TLC =because of fear.My neighbor was told at work that if it doesn't pass she will loose her job....lol
I hope they don't pass it.

Answer 2

First - I didn't see any reason in the article to believe that the benefits would flow to the Costa Rican elite, other than the last sentence, of which you clipped off the beginning:

"Foes say the benefits of CAFTA will flow mainly to Costa Rica's elite, making the country more like its impoverished neighbors."

Foes say this, and don't say why. Perhaps these foes are the ones who are trying to sell things in the Costa Rican market at inflated prices, and are currently able to do this because of trade barriers.

So my answer is no, the foes are incorrect: If all the other countries in Central America vote for free trade with the United States, and Costa Rica doesn't, the other countries will have a big advantage on getting into US markets. Voting against will kill their coffee exports, except for their high end coffee beans which people will buy regardless of trade barriers. Voting for it will create better opportunities for Central American firms to get into the US market. Whether you like it or not, we're going to keep importing cheap products into the United States. I'd rather import them from Latin America than from China for a variety of reasons, and deals like NAFTA and CAFTA make this more likely.

Secondly, the reason NAFTA harmed the Mexican agricultural sector is that it allowed American farmers to dump subsidized corn on the Mexican market. The problem was, and still is, agricultural subsidies.

The solution to economic problems is never more socialism - whether it be trade barriers, subsidies, or any other form. The solution is less socialism - cut those barriers and those subsidies and let the free market determine the best way to allocate resources.

An interesting point is that about 90% of economists believe that free trade is a good thing, and that tariffs and other trade barriers are bad for economies. There are very few points on which such a large fraction of economists will agree. To get this kind of consensus requires getting economists from the far left to the far right and nearly everyone in between to agree, meaning that the only thing they really have in common is that they have studied the issue carefully.

Answer 3

They have the right to vote on free trade. No wonder it's considered the most admired country in Central America. I would hope that their Hondoran "neighbors" inform them what we did to their rice farmers when they broke down their trade barrier.


Edit: >> Don't be suprise of Dengue fever showing up in New Orleans or Florida. There's an epidemic in Central America and with increase trade and movement in people it might end up here.

Answer 4

Costa Rica's PEOPLE can vote on a trade agreement? WOW! Then they should use that vote to distance them selves from any meddling by the Trilateral commission, cause that's who's behind this crap.

Answer 5

Any economic union with the US is bad news for Latin America, Check the results of NAFTA on Mexico . Latin American Need to form a free trade union for Latin American Countries, China, India and South East Asia. Mexico and Latin America need to restrict trade with the US and Expand trade with South America ,China and South East Asia. That is where their future lies.

Answer 6

NAFTA was a failure as is NAFTA'S Nastier Sister CAFTA.
Yes....Costa Rica's ppl will suffer like its neighbors.