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Re: The North American Economic Community - Yes!

 stern@vcn.bc.ca (Daniel Stern) wrote:
 >Jennifer Mycyk-Oestreicher (jmycyk1@gmu.edu) wrote:
 >: stern@vcn.bc.ca (Daniel Stern) wrote:
 >: >Who is opposed to Canada and the United States setting up a treaty like 
 >: >the Europeans have (ie, the EEC)? I think it would be a great idea.
 >
 >: Just a common market or monetary and economic union?
 >
 >The same as the EEC (no duty on goods, and people are free to work in 
 >either country.
 It's the EU now, isn't it? So what you are advocating is a customs union+. 
 then. Frankly I think that the relationship between the US and Canada is 
 too lopsided (economically) for this to work. Nor do I think that our 
 economic policies are necessarily convergent - in a customs union+ the 
 participating countries lose some degree of autonomy in economic policy 
 development and execution. In terms of negotiated trade treaties, I think 
 NAFTA is just fine for the time being and is an excellent example of a 
 working free trade area (particularly so because it is comprised of three 
 countries with very different economic circumstances) - despite the trade 
 irritants that occasionally arise. 
 >: er...... fine - try getting this past a) the health insurance lobby in the 
 >: US and b) the NRA. 
 >If we could do it, you can too (do you think that it's a good idea that 
 >people be allowed to own fire arms, or that some people should be denied 
 >medical services because they can't afford it?).
 First of all, I am a Canadian even tho I currently live in the US. Second 
 of all, I think you don't really understand the differences between the US 
 and Canada in terms of attitude towards single payer medical care or 
 firearms for that matter. Whether or not _I_ think people should have the 
 right to bear arms is moot - this right is enshrined in the US 
 Constitution and vigourously defended by one of the most powerful 
 political lobbies in the US. Gun regulation is a very sensitive subject 
 down here. Similarly,  powerful interest groups are also opposed to single 
 payer health care and implementing such a system is unlikely in the near 
 future (IMHO)
 jen