More Populism! More Referendums!
Do you wonder what would happen if the United States chanced a popular vote on the North American Free Trade Agreement, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, or, now, the Central American Free Trade Agreement? US leaders, Republican and Democratic, push all these pacts. They talk of modernization and removing archaic trade barriers. They have an almost religious faith that this kind of free-market economics floats all boats; that there is unlimited potential for wealth creation; and that world trade, if freed from regulation, will somehow overcome the problem of finite natural resources.
Truth is, these deals painted as win-win are big wins for a few, small wins for a few more, and big losses for many people, for rural communities, and for the natural-resource base on which our wealth is built. The deals aim to lower the cost of those resources and the cost of labor. They are a way to override conservationist restraint, and to push the environmental and social costs of business onto society and the natural world. Middle-class French and Dutch voters saw through this. They understood that the reordering was not based on their interests. They voted NO
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