Posted on 03/16/2005 4:08:52 PM PST by Willie Green
One of the big questions of our time is whether the global economy is stable. The gains from "globalization" -- more cross-border trade, investment and technology transfers -- are indisputable. Countless millions have escaped poverty in Asia and Europe. A recent study by the Institute for International Economics concluded that American living standards are roughly 10 percent higher as a result of globalization's benefits (cheap imports, greater competition, new technologies). Globalization's winners vastly outnumber its losers.
Unfortunately, that could change if the world economy turns out to be unstable -- incapable of sustaining adequate growth or vulnerable to severe crises. For the moment the dangers are abstract. In 2004 the global economy grew 4.7 percent, economists at Goldman Sachs report. Asia (excluding Japan) grew 8.2 percent; Latin America, 5.6 percent; the United States, 4.4 percent. Global economic growth should average about 4 percent in 2005 and 2006, the Goldman economists predict. Still, the specter of instability lingers.
Global economic integration -- the merging of markets, the mutual dependencies of countries -- has raced well ahead of either political integration or intellectual mastery. We simply don't understand well how the global economy operates. Nor is it clear how countries with diverging interests and shared suspicions will cooperate in a crisis.
One obvious problem is oil.....
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Your post on... "The challenge of assembling an intricate mosaic..."
It seems to me that the goal of establishing a Pan-Americanism is somewhat complicated by the fact that some of these countries FTAA proponents want to partner with or merge with are in effect either oligarchies or socialist or aspiring communist strongman governments.
Why would either a conservative or a liberatrian want to merge with a government based on the very antithesis of their own political goals and priciples as applied to their own government?
Its interesting, isn't it?
"All in all, there were nine Pan-American conferences, the last of which, in 1948, established the OAS as the main institutional structure of the nascent inter-American system."
How dare you establish a logical inference between the OAS and the FTAA ....you deducer you!
There is a jostling for power that is going on underneath the summits and the trade meetings.
The COPA website shows that other groups, more oriented toward south America, want to establish themselves as the parliament, giving the OAS a run for the money so to speak.
In the meantime the American people are kept completely in the dark about the wrangling for hemipsheric power that is aided and abetted by our own govenment. Its quite disturbing.
There are literally hundreds of organizations doing it too, almost impossible to keep up.
What would that inference be? That both share some of the same geographic area? Brilliant.
Okay...lets assume youre right...there is no association between OAS and the FTAA....that is what you are suggesting right?
Why is it hard to get a normal dialogue and question / response going on these types of threads?
Questions...questions...and no answers...
You killed another thread agin...
bad datmon
That's not what anyone said. Gee, Organization of American States and Free Trade Agreement of the Americas I think even the tinfoil crowd can see that they may have some association. Same members maybe?
Hedgetrimmer said that "the Free Trade of the Americas Agreement, which designates the OAS as the supranational body to govern the Western Hemisphere".
Are you suggesting that hedge is correct? And since he has no proof, maybe you do? See, if the FTAA designates that, it should be in the FTAA. Easy!!! Now prove it.
Pretty please. Then we can debate all the other FTAA and OAS issues you have.
All in all, there were nine Pan-American conferences, the last of which, in 1948, established the OAS as the main institutional structure of the nascent inter-American system.
Post #119
Okay....lets step back a bit here.
You do understand the concept of 'inference'...one aspect of which is deducing a causal relationship from a collection of facts?
Here's a press release that went out a couple of days ago:
Florida FTAA, Inc. Leads DR-CAFTA Lobbying Mission to Washington, D.C.
Florida FTAA, Inc., joined by Florida business leaders, will hold a series of meetings with members of the Florida Congressional Delegation in Washington, D.C., March 16th - 17th, 2005.
In May 2004, the United States, the Dominican Republic, and five Central American countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua) signed an agreement to eliminate barriers to trade, open markets, enforce fair labor conditions and promote investment and economic growth. Currently, three Central American countries have ratified DR-CAFTA: Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador; with a vote in the United States Congress expected later this spring.
The members of the Florida Congressional Delegation to be visited by the group are:
U.S. Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL)
Congressman Jim Davis (D-11)
Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-21)
Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-25)
Congresswoman Katherine Harris (R-13)
Congressman Connie Mack, IV (R-14)
Congressman John Mica (R-7)
Congressman Adam Putnam (R-12)
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-18)
Florida FTAA, Inc. is the private-public entity led by Governor Jeb Bush, City of Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez and officials throughout the State of Florida with the mission that Miami, Florida become the site of the Permanent Secretariat of the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Florida FTAA is chaired by Ambassador Charles E. Cobb, Jr. and managed by President Jorge L. Arrizurieta. The administrative offices are located at the Biltmore Hotel Conference Center of the Americas in Coral Gables, Florida.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050315/fltu018_2.html
Are you serious? Does "normal dialogue" include making stuff up? Our friend hedgetrimmer easily could have said that he was exaggerating, or that he misspoke, or that he was speaking figuratively, and the discussion would have continued. Incidentally, I skimmed the draft of the FTAA that ht belatedly provided, and I can find no mention of the OAS. So let me reiterate, it must come as a shock to the drafters of this agreement that they are designating the OAS as their governing body.
See, if you had said that and then warned about future potential power grabs by the OAS, you'd have been okay. Instead you said:"the Free Trade of the Americas Agreement, which designates the OAS as the supranational body to govern the Western Hemisphere" and unleashed a well deserved torrent of ridicule.
Actually:
One entry found for inference.
Main Entry: in·fer·ence
Pronunciation: 'in-f(&-)r&n(t)s, -f&rn(t)s
Function: noun
1 : the act or process of inferring : as a : the act of passing from one proposition, statement, or judgment considered as true to another whose truth is believed to follow from that of the former
Are you inferring that the Free Trade of the Americas Agreement designates the OAS as the supranational body to govern the Western Hemisphere because the FTAA and the OAS have the same members?
Which collection of facts leads you to infer that the OAS is the supranational body designated to govern the Western Hemisphere?
Some message. I wonder how many FReepers are planning to get an OAS passport before venturing overseas, based on your comments. [chortle]
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