Free to choose.Recent headlines tell the story: Two more textile plants to close, 900 jobs lost. An entire industry, once the backbone of the local economy, is slipping bit by excruciating bit to China, and there is nothing to do to stop it. El Salvador El Salvador (ĕl sälväthōr`), officially Republic of El Salvador, republic (2005 est. pop. 6,705,000), 8,260 sq mi (21,393 sq km), Central America. ? Costa Rica Costa Rica (kŏs`tə rē`kə), officially Republic of Costa Rica, republic (2005 est. pop. 4,016,000), 19,575 sq mi (50,700 sq km), Central America. ? Nope, Gastonia, North Carolina Gastonia is a city in Gaston County in North Carolina, a state in the southeastern United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 66,277 (68,964 is the 2005 Census Bureau estimated population). It is the county seat of Gaston County. , a place where I grew up. As a kid, I remember the red-brick textile mills and the white, shotgun-shack homes of mill workers. Today, the mill families are gone. Their homes, company property, were sold to them in the 1980s at cents on the dollar to cut costs after the first wave of production left, at the time for cheaper labor in Central America Central America, narrow, southernmost region (c.202,200 sq mi/523,698 sq km) of North America, linked to South America at Colombia. It separates the Caribbean from the Pacific. . As negotiators hammer out the final details of the new U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement, scheduled to close this month, both sides will have to make choices. In the case of my old hometown, a faltering textile economy soon gave way to a booming financial industry in nearby Charlotte. How did Gastonia, once a cradle of the U.S. labor movement, turn it around? It didn't, have to. Money found Gastonia. An educated workforce, reasonable tax rates, stability and a willingness to change--along with political leadership--created conditions for growth. Central America's entrepreneurs can do the same, and its elected leaders should help. The U.S.-Central America talks are a negotiation, not a gift. The United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. will try hard to leverage its power But it is not in the interest of the United States to make small countries into permanently undeveloped satellites whose citizens flood U.S. cities looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. any scrap they can grab from the big table. That's what the United States has now. But true development--clean water, safe streets, health care, education, and jobs--depends on political leadership at home. Mutual economic growth is the end of free trade. Turning free trade into economic opportunity, however, takes hard work. Time to get to it. -Greg Brown gbrown@latintrade-inc.com P.S. Innovation, power and a dash of plain old sex appeal. Our new executive toy An executive toy is a useless, but stylish and funny novelty item that is usually a small mechanical gadget placed on the desk of a corporate executive. The best known are: |
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