Inasmuch as a free trade agreement with Panama would likely increase employment in Panama, it is disingenuous to state that it will increase jobs in America. A financial situation is only win-win if the gross output increases among the two partners in both directions. This is unlikely because the vast number of Panamanians live below the standard of living of Americans and as such has their purchasing power to the United States is inconsequential. I foresee this move as one tantamount to the maquiladoras on the Mexican border.
Let us be real, Free Trade only work for businesses. It is a backdoor to breaking down borders and laws within borders. It is a process meant to create one “financial government”, the corporate structure. It makes workers in every participating country nothing more than a commodity. As such, if an American worker refuses to work for much less, business simply goes to the next available “Free Market” to purchase labor at a lower price.
The Chinese, Indian, Panamanian, and Brazilian engineer is just as good as an American engineer. Hell, many are degreed from our excellent universities. As such, when they return home where their salaries in their respective fields usually pay substantially less than Americans, they can provide those services to corporate America at a discount to the American worker.
What does all this mean? It means that Free Trade creates the normalization of wages. Wages will fall to the least common denominator as corporations reap ever expanding profits. This is happening in most of our sectors, not only manufacturing. Even doctors (e.g., Radiologists) are being outsourced. I receive calls from Indian companies weekly willing to develop software for my company at under $10.00 per hour, at least 1/3 of the US software developer cost. I covered this in my book “As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom”.
Corporations have no loyalty to worker or country. Government, “we the people” must be their conscience. Laws must be passed to protect the American worker from corporate predatory practices. Absent the American government protecting our own markets from corporate created decimation for the gain of a few we can expect our standard of living in the aggregate to continue its decline.
Free Trade Agreements are Anti-American, Anti-Middle Class, and patently unpatriotic.
My Book: As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom
Book’s Webpage: http://amzn.to/dt72c7 – Twitter: http://twitter.com/egbertowillies