Regional Economic Integration and Nafta

What are the pros and cons of regional economic integration?

Regional economic integration is the agreements among countries in a geographic region to reduce/remove tariff & non-tariff barriers to the free flow of goods, services & factors of production with each other.

The pros--

• By connecting economies and making them gradually more dependent on each other creates motivation for political cooperation and decreases the possibility for violent conflict

• By classifying economies, countries can improve their political weight in the world

• Economic integration entails that members give up some level of control over monetary policy, fiscal/tax policy and trade policy

The cons--

• Advantages of regional integration have been oversold and the costs have often been ignored

• The high-cost domestic producers are replaced by low-cost producers within a region

• The low-cost external suppliers are replaced by higher-cost suppliers within the region

• Regional trading alliances could emerge

How has NAFTA affected your business?

NAFTA is supposed to provide for labor equity across national borders. Unfortunately, NAFTA sanctions don't apply to the entertainment