financial system creating better processes within banking H u m a n i t i e s

Read “Bill Clinton on Free Trade and Financial Deregulation (1993-2000)” and using a minimum of 200 words (not including quotations) respond to the following questions. Make sure to reference specific passages from the document and/or textbook to support your discussion: CH 29 & 30

• According to Clinton, what will be the benefits of NAFTA and the projected dismantling of “trade barriers?” 
• What contradictions are apparent in his argument for embracing the global economy? 
• What is the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act designed to do?
• Who advocated deregulating the derivatives market, and what do these entities represent? 
• In the longer run, did NAFTA along with the deregulation of financial markets produce the benefits that Clinton envisioned? Why or why not?

Matthew Moench

Free Trade Discussion

According to President Bill Clinton, in his speech about free trade and the NAFTA, he claims that in enacting the act they will potentially create up to 200,000 new jobs, “the world’s largest trade zone,” and build prosperity for the people of the Americas. President Clinton later acknowledges the known problems that come with creating a larger trading environment. As more productivity increases within the markets, so will the demand for workers, and due to the competitive market for profits, satisfying work conditions may not be entirely met in order to make this demand happen. Thus Americans will still end up suffering from this supposed economic boom.

The Gramm-Leach Bliley Act was made to allow banks more authority in making new affiliations with different companies in the same field or in security firms. This would allow more growth within the financial system creating better processes within banking, and better stability for the whole countries financial security. The bodies that supported the deregulation of the derivatives market were the “Secretary of Treasury, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the Security and Exchange Commission, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.” These groups represent the organization that will monitor and regulate the OTC market.

In the long run, I do not believe the desired results of NAFTA were accurately made. Open commerce was created and the GDP did increase consistently; however, this only came at the cost of Mexicans being unable to compete in the farming market and put millions of them out of business. U.S. companies also shifted to Mexican workers in order to combat the increased joining of Americans into unions. It has since been revised into the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement with better terms of agreement forall parties and has since been officially ratified.