Is Nafta good for the U.S.?
— Muhammed Usmani, Bayonne, N.J. There can only be one reason you ask, and that’s because the North American Free-Trade Agreement, in effect since 1994, has become a political hot potato, sparking all sorts of hooting and hollering for its demise, from union halls to the campaign trail. Regardless, here’s our answer: absolutely yes. Now, we don’t want to sound extreme. But we’ve come to understand Nafta’s opposition. In a recent column, we suggested that deporting 12million people was an unimaginable managerial task. Immigration amnesty opponents—which heavily overlap with the anti-Nafta crowd—e-mailed us in droves, saying things like: “I hope you are killed by a band of illegal immigrants.” The vitriol of this well-orchestrated fan mail made us realize how hard it is these days to debate matters involving organized labor. Temperatures rise. We’ll try to stay cool, then, while making our case. To put it plainly, we see Nafta as one of President Clinton’s greatest achievements. Opening
