In December 2019, the United States House of Representatives passed the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, ushering in a new paradigm for trade between the three North American countries. In doing so, it ended a 30-year trading period governed by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This was a landmark trade deal that George H. W. Bush initiated in 1989 with the passage of the U.S. Canada Free Trade Agreement. Negotiations with Mexico ensued, with Canada joining the talks and a conclusion of a deal between the three, signed into force under the administration of Bill Clinton in 1994. With the adoption of the USMCA, the previous agreement has become obsolete. One can now assess the legacy of the North American Free Trade Agreement, though the countries will update and analyze the agreement throughout the next few years as the components of the new deal take effect.
Proponents and Opponents of NAFTA
NAFTA broke ground in neoliberal terms. Free trade principles that Bush, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Regan championed dissolved tariffs and liberalized trade with a focus on the agriculture, textile and automobile industries. Supporters of the deal proclaimed the benefits that the deal would bring, including boosting the trade and economies of the three countries, particularly Mexico’s developing one. They forecasted that Mexicans would find better jobs in Mexico. Therefore, they would stay, rather than immigrating illegally to the United States. Furthermore, NAFTA would benefit U.S. and Canadian companies seeking markets for goods and cheap labor.
There were many arguments against NAFTA from the onset. Critics jeopardized the legacy of the North American Free Trade Agreement before it even started. Headlined by then third-party U.S. presidential candidate Ross Perot, opponents claimed that opening the Mexican border to free trade principles would result in what he called a “giant sucking sound” as companies outsourced American jobs to Mexico to seek lower wages.
The Results
With the benefit of hindsight, experts now say that NAFTA had neither as good nor as bad of an impact on the economies of the United States, Canada and Mexico as some initially predicted. Like many things, the reality lay in the middle. While trade objectively increased, even tripled by some accounts, American jobs did indeed flee to Mexico. Many left the Midwest and created the so-called Rust Belt. An article published by the Economic Policy Institute details the extent of the losses, contending that 682,900 jobs suffered in the U.S. at NAFTA’s expense. Many of these job losses, 60.8 percent, were in manufacturing. Supporters predicted manufacturing would see an increase of up to two million in five years.
In short, U.S. companies benefited at the detriment of Mexican families. Further, two million Mexican families with previous engagement in farming activities lost their livelihoods. In addition, small businesses closed in the 10s of thousands. Between NAFTA and subsequent free trade deals with countries like Peru, Colombia and some Central American and Caribbean countries, millions experienced displacement from their homes and fled. Many fled to the United States, proving to exacerbate illegal immigration rather than alleviate it. Mexico did see an increase in jobs for a while, especially in the automotive industry, expanding from 120,000 to 550,000 since 1994. However, this has not been nearly enough to offset the harm caused; even when accounting for a boost in trade and considerable improvement in foreign direct investment to Mexico from $15 to $100 billion.
The Potential Future
Overall, companies in the U.S., Canada and Mexico benefited in some ways from free trade. Generally, this left a significant legacy of the North American Free Trade Agreement. However, it came at a substantial loss for individuals and worsened existing problems like outsourcing and illegal immigration. The biggest hope for the future lies in the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement. The USMCA, agreed to by the three countries, passed with bipartisan support in the House of Representatives. Ideally, it will right some of the wrongs that NAFTA inflicted, while continuing to promote trade and economic growth in North America.
– Alex Meyers
Photo: Flickr
Unconventional Education Providers
Unconventional Education Providers
Internet companies dominate online resources and access. Companies such as Microsoft and Google frequently cooperate with non-profit organizations for philanthropic purposes. The primary goal for many of these organizations is to offer accessible education through innovative solutions. Google, for example, made a five-year, $1 billion commitment to improve access to education through partnerships. In particular, Google contributed $5 million to Learning Equality and its offline educational platform Kolibri as a way to promote an innovative way of providing primary education.
Funded by Google, Kolibri is a free education solution that includes both device and content for users who have limited internet access. Content like KA Lite has been installed in 200 countries and reached 4.5 million learners. Besides the widely spreading installations, training personnel in these regions is another major objective for this unconventional education provider. Kolibri project inspired the implementation of a similar platform in Jordan where 10 learning hubs trained 40 Syrian refugees to be Kolibri coaches or coordinators within 10 days.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence provides internet companies with a distinct method in their mission to reduce poverty. In 2018, Microsoft initiated AI for Humanitarian Action, a five-year program funded with $40 million that applies artificial intelligence in poverty-related issues. Artificial intelligence can help NGOs in disaster response, childcare and education, the livelihoods of refugees and human rights.
Companies are working on ways to make AI even more efficient. In many impoverished areas, there is a shortage of qualified teachers. As AI continues to develop and improve, it will be able to perform more complex grading tasks. Companies are already working on translation software to offer more content to children in a variety of languages.
Women in Coding
Women suffer from gender inequality all around the world, but more so in impoverished regions. One of the ways to combat this is through acquiring an education. Some unconventional education providers are giving these women a way out of poverty through learning how to code. The nonprofit STEMbees is giving women and girls in Africa the chance to learn to code. In Lagos, Nairobi and Kampala, women engineers make up 30 percent of their total employment.
In short, via funding or technological support to other non-profit organizations, internet companies have become unconventional education providers. The technology they are developing gives impoverished people access to more knowledge at a lower cost. With so many connected online, it may be a good time to start thinking about how to use the internet to help to fight poverty.
– Dingnan Zhang
Photo: Prlog.org
Understanding Hong Kong’s housing crisis
Hong Kong’s Housing Crisis
While it is proud to be home to the wealthiest people in the world, inequality in Hong Kong is reaching its highest level in 45 years. One in five people in Hong Kong lives under the city’s poverty line. The richest households can make 44 times what the poorest family can scrape together.
The experiences of people on the two sides of the wealth spectrum are starkly different. Many consider Hong Kong the world’s least affordable city, having the most expensive property internationally for nine consecutive years. While the richest population continues to enjoy the luxury and wealth from its investment in real estate, the people at the bottom struggle to find shelters.
The housing crisis in Hong Kong is one of the most pressing issues that the city is facing. The average price of property reaches almost $3,200 per square foot, and an average home costs around $1.28 million. A tiny “nano apartment” can cost Hong Kong residents up to $500,000. The monthly rent for almost half of the city’s apartments is $2,550, which is 122 percent of what an average individual makes in a month.
Poor Housing Conditions
For people who cannot afford such exorbitant rents, they resort to fast-food restaurants, footbridges and illegal shacks under highways for shelters. At least 200,000 other Hong Kong residents are living in tiny subdivided flats, sharing facilities with many different households in apartments designed for one family.
These subdivided flats are so small and low-quality that people call them the infamous “coffin cubicles” because of their resemblance to coffin boxes. These lower-quality units may comprise of wire mesh instead of wooden planks, giving them the appearance of cages. Even the starting rent for these windowless cages can cost around $180 a month.
These tiny living spaces, often no more than 20 square feet, sit stacked on top of one another in cramped buildings. They barely fit one person in each unit, and there is no space for one to fully stretch out inside the space. A significant number of these living spaces are in breach of safety regulations, and one can consider the squalid living conditions of these tiny coffin boxes violations of human rights. These living situations are likely to have negative impacts on the physical and psychological well-being of the tenants, especially the elderly who live in solitude.
The alternative for these low-income families is to apply for public housing units. However, the supply cannot keep up with the demand. Many attribute the housing crisis in Hong Kong to the government’s decision to halt public housing construction planning in response to the 1997 financial crisis. The public housing construction level has yet to return to the pre-crisis level. The government’s Housing Authority garnered about 105,000 applications for flats. This is 50 times the supply. Similarly, the nonprofit Housing Society received about 88,000 applications for its public housing, which is 141 times its supply. Hundreds of thousands of applicants have gone on the waitlist with the average wait time of 5.5 years.
The housing shortage and astronomical housing prices are also likely the consequence of restrictive land usage regulations. The government owns all the land in Hong Kong but has zoned only 7 percent of the city’s land for housing. Developers have to pay the land premium, which costs a hefty amount, for the limited number of lands that the government leases each year. Developers would, in turn, set the prices of this housing sky-high to obtain profits. Investment in Hong Kong’s property is attractive for foreigners and especially Mainland Chinese who want a place for their capital, which drives up the demand for housing immensely.
The Solution
In response to Hong Kong’s pressing housing crisis, the government has announced plans to provide more affordable homes in the next decade. It plans to add 280,000 public homes and 180,000 private homes by 2027.
The straight-forward solution that the government proposed is to increase land supply. There is a plan for land reclamation to build 4,200 acres of artificial islands to meet the housing demands. The first island would create space for 260,000 flats, of which 70 percent would be public housing.
However, land reclamation is expensive, potentially destructive to the environment and could take decades to reach completion. The housing crisis in Hong Kong is in need of more immediate solutions. Some are in favor of rent controls in Hong Kong to keep the property price affordable.
In October 2019, the government proposed to redevelop about 700 hectares of unused private land for public housing in Hong Kong’s northern New Territories region. Several Hong Kong conglomerates have shown support for providing more affordable housing to alleviate the housing problem in the city. The New World Development announced its decision to donate three million square feet of farmland for public housing. It also shows a willingness to donate more land to other nonprofit organizations and charity that provides social housing. The Sun Hung Kai Properties also declared its aim to cooperate with the government to construct affordable housing on rural land zoned for subsidized housing.
Photo: Flickr
Helping Latin American Coffee Farmers
The Arbor Day Foundation is an organization that plants trees in order to mitigate the effects of global warming. Its aim is to plant 100 million trees around the world by the year 2022. However, it does not limit its goals to stopping climate change. In fact, by planting coffee trees in South America, the Arbor Day Foundation devotes its time to helping Latin American coffee farmers earn a fair wage.
About the Arbor Day Foundation
The Arbor Day Foundation’s main mission is to stop climate change by planting as many trees as possible around the world. Much of its focus is on encouraging people in the United States to purchase trees to plant in their backyards. However, it also partners with international corporations, such as Rain Forest Rescue, to replant and restore forests around the world. The Arbor Day Foundation’s ultimate goal is to plant 100 million trees by 2022.
While the Arbor Day Foundation’s main focus is on preventing climate change from getting worse, it also acknowledges that trees are important to communities. Part of this acknowledgment involves teaching people in impoverished countries more sustainable ways to use trees to make money. In addition, Arbor Day offers income to any locals who are willing to plant trees. For example, impoverished families in China can distribute and plant wolfberry trees to make a little extra money.
The Arbor Day Foundation Coffee
One of the Arbor Day Foundation’s many causes is helping Latin American coffee farmers grow sustainable coffee. The Foundation does this by helping the farmers plant trees in the Amazon Rainforest. The coffee beans from these trees grow in the shade of the surrounding trees, which helps them get more moisture and ultimately enriches the soil and produces better-tasting coffee. It also allows local farmers to make more money. The farmers have to learn more sustainable growing methods in order to avoid losing the land to soil degradation. By growing their coffee in the shade, they can keep their land and sell more, better quality coffee beans than they could otherwise.
The Arbor Day Foundation’s method of growing coffee also motivates local farmers to reforest areas that had previously been deforested for various reasons. Peruvian farmer Amaro Chasquero Jaramillo is currently growing both young coffee plants and young trees. His ultimate goal is to reforest the area with the coffee trees in the shade of the other trees. He hopes that, in addition to increasing his income, his efforts will also protect local wildlife from further man-made harm.
The Arbor Day Foundation sells three types of coffee on its website, all of which originate in impoverished countries. The medium-roast Arbor Day Blend and the darker Italian Blend both originate from the Cajamarca Region in Peru. The La Sombra Blend, another medium blend, originates in La Chiapas, Mexico. All three blends cost $11.99 for a one-pound bag and members of the Arbor Day Foundation receive a 20 percent discount and a free mug.
The Arbor Day Foundation’s Goal
The Arbor Day Foundation’s main goal is the reforestation of the world and the mitigating of global warming. In the process, it helps the poor in impoverished countries learn to grow crops more sustainably and earn more money. In particular, the Arbor Day Foundation is helping Latin American coffee farmers earn a fair wage. Coffee farmers in Latin America learn to grow their beans in the shade of surrounding trees, thus producing better quality coffee and ultimately letting them turn more of a profit.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Ways to Support Women in Poverty
Mindful Consumption
One should be mindful of where their purchases come from when they purchase food, drink or clothing. Becoming a conscious consumer can directly support women in poverty. It is a simple lifestyle choice that results in purposeful outcomes.
Many jobs and markets exploit women by giving women unfair prices for the goods they produce or work in unsafe environments. Fairtrade is one of the leading establishments coming together to ensure women around the world are not taken advantage of. This cooperative set forth stringent standards on what qualifies as responsibly sourced goods. Items that qualify carry the “Fairtrade Mark,” which allows consumers to know they are spending money where it counts the most.
The sourcing of general products may originate from human trafficking rings. In these rings, forced labor produces goods. When consumers purchase items that have unethical roots, they inadvertently fund those crimes to continue. More than 70 percent of individuals that endure trafficking are females and they must work under horrifying conditions without pay. Consumers can download and use applications like Free2Work, which informs the public of the behind-the-scenes of where their money goes.
Charity
Financially supporting nonprofits with missions to uplift women out of poverty is crucial. Various reputable nonprofits focus on a wide range of obstacles that women face. A core issue is making sure these women have the available resources necessary to receive an education. Funding for schools in impoverished rural areas is one battle. However, females encounter other challenges that cause them to miss or stop attending school altogether.
Girls around the world who lack access to menstrual education and products miss at least one week of schooling every month during her period. This holds girls back and can lead to them dropping out of school altogether. The organization AFRIpads recognizes this crisis and has made it its mission to address it. AFRIpads supplies reusable menstruation pads to regions where girls do not have access to sanitary products. With this simple and effective solution, many girls can attend class no matter the time of the month. Small donations to a cause like AFRIpad’s will help the continued support of women in poverty.
Another reason girls drop out of school is due to unplanned pregnancies. Nonprofits like Global Health Partnerships (GHP) prioritize providing birth control to women and empowering family planning. When The Borgen Project had a chance to speak with the Vice President of GHP, Dr. Ruth O’Keefe, she spoke about the impact that providing Depo shots to villages in Kenya makes. “I’ve never seen a calendar in anyone’s house, but they all know exactly when it’s time to get their next shot,” she said. It is evident that GHP has empowered women to utilize family planning. Meaningful causes to support women in poverty like GHP’s become sustainable through donations.
Voice
When it comes to fighting for the underdog, every voice matters. Writing to members of Congress lets leaders know how significant funding for vital poverty acts is. Breaking the cycle of poverty starts at the education level. Providing this betterment opportunity for women allows people to help them so they can help themselves. Reaching out to local and national media channels is another useful action. Sending messages to news sources is a great way to have one’s voice heard. The increase in coverage of women in poverty will raise greater awareness and support for this humanitarian matter, and in turn, bring more legislators attention to it as well.
Raising a voice to support women in poverty costs little time and effort. Meanwhile, it can change the lives of so many women. Straightforward actions support women in poverty. Voicing opinions on this issue helps legislators focus on this matter. Financially supporting those who make a difference every day in marginalized communities is crucial.
– Ariana Kiessling
Photo: Flickr
Menstruation, Education and Poverty
Each day, more than 800 million women and girls menstruate, yet people often leave periods out of conversations regarding poverty, global health and progress. Menstruation, education and poverty link together. Most who menstruate experience their first period between ages 10 and 16. Menstruation can cause other complications for children already in poverty. Despite efforts to include menstruation in these conversations, stigma and shame still often prevail when discussions arise.
In order to have a healthy period, people need access to clean water and sanitation. More than 35 percent of the world’s population lack these necessities. Without necessary hygiene measures, menstruation can result in illness and death.
Menstruation, Education and Poverty
In addition to these concerns about physical well-being and safety, menstruation can negatively affect a child’s education in a number of ways. Lack of proper sanitation and menstrual hygiene products such as tampons and sanitary pads can lead to missed school days around the time of a period.
When logistical concerns combine with the common stigma about periods and menstruation, people who menstruate miss out on valuable education. In Ghana, a nation where 8 percent of people live in extreme poverty, over 95 percent of students who menstruate reported frequent absences from school due to their period.
Fighting Back
While stigma and the lack of access to sanitary products continue to be a problem, various global initiatives are acting to combat this threat to health and safety. In 2013, the German nonprofit WASH United named May 28th Menstrual Hygiene Day, aiming to educate the public and fight stigmatization around menstruation globally.
May 28th is more than just a day to educate and enact action. It also symbolically ties to menstruation. May, the fifth month of the year, represents the average of five days that menstruation lasts each cycle. The number 28 represents the average length in days of a menstrual cycle.
WASH United is not the only organization realizing the importance of including menstruation in the conversations surrounding poverty and global health. The global nonprofit PERIOD is working to provide quality menstrual care, education and opportunities for those who menstruate. The Pad Project works on the ground in impoverished areas installing sustainable, locally sourced machines that produce pads, creating both necessary sanitary products and jobs. These two nonprofits both additionally stress the importance of proper menstrual care in order to ensure that menstruation does not limit a child’s education.
Looking Forward
Menstruation is not just a concern for the 26 percent of the global population who experiences it. There is a great need for education on the process and common challenges of menstruation in order to improve health and access to necessary care. In the fight to improve menstrual health around the globe, it is imperative that people teach menstruation as a natural, biological process that is healthy for the body, and not something that is shameful or unsanitary.
When people who menstruate have confidence in the tools they use during their period, as well as access to basic needs of water and sanitation, then menstruation, education and poverty can begin to destigmatize and children can face less of a barrier in obtaining the schooling, comfort and safety they deserve.
– Elizabeth Reece Baker
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
6 Facts About Women’s Health in Madagascar
Madagascar is the world’s second-largest island country off the coast of East Africa. It is also among the poorest countries in the world with a poverty rate of over 75 percent. This poverty rate has inevitably affected the accessibility and quality of health care and the consequent overall health of Malagasy women. These are six facts about women’s health in Madagascar.
6 Facts About Women’s Health in Madagascar
These six facts about women’s health in Madagascar show that with one of the world’s worst poverty rates, women in Madagascar are struggling to maintain their health and find safe places to deliver their children. However, groups like the Jhpiego are working to reach out to the women who need help the most in Madagascar. As a result, many women are receiving prenatal and antenatal care for the first time as well as access to health clinics with experienced health care workers. Overall female health in Madagascar is improving and USAID and Jhpiego show no signs of stopping their aid to women’s health in Madagascar.
– Amanda Gibson
Photo: Flickr
10 Facts about Child Labor in Myanmar
Myanmar was a prosperous country at the beginning of the 1960s. However, when Myanmar came under the rule of an oppressive military junta from 1962 to 2011, it became one of the world’s poorest nations. Many considered the former military regime in Myanmar to be one of the most oppressive and abusive regimes in the world, committing serious human rights and humanitarian law violations against civilians, including women and children. Child labor is one of the prevalent issues that the government is trying to tackle, but it remains common in Myanmar.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines child labor as work that negatively affects children’s mentality, physicality or morality and interferes with their schooling. The worst forms of child labor include slavery, sexual exploitation, illicit activities or work that by nature is likely to harm the health, morals or safety of children.
Despite the new government body’s attempt to eradicate child labor, it remains a huge challenge in Myanmar due to its limited resources. Here are 10 facts about child labor in Myanmar.
10 Facts About Child Labor in Myanmar
Since the transition to a new government in 2011, Myanmar’s human rights records have been improving. Although child labor is still prevalent in Myanmar due to poverty as well as cultural norms, the government is taking steps to address this issue with the collaboration of the ILO and various NGOs.
These 10 facts about child labor in Myanmar highlight some of the challenges facing the government, but also many great potentials to eradicate child labor in Myanmar through national and international efforts to ensure better lives and rights for the children of this Asian nation.
– Minh-Ha La
Photo: Flickr
Vision Care in Developing Countries
DIFF is a sunglass company in Southern California that emerged in 2014. DIFF began with the intention of challenging the norm and doing good in the world. It has partnered with many charities over the years to help supply vision care in developing countries.
The Need for Vision Care in Developing Countries
Over one billion people in developing countries suffer from presbyopia. Presbyopia typically starts around the age of 40 and causes a gradual loss of close-up vision. For people in developing or impoverished countries, having clear vision is incredibly important in the workforce, especially if the jobs include skills like sewing, weaving and carving. About 2.5 billion people worldwide need eyeglasses to see clearly but are unable to access them. As many as 239 million children live with uncorrected vision. A lack of access to vision care puts another obstacle in the way of children in school without the ability to read easily and inhibits the ability of those in the workforce to do their jobs.
Eyeglasses for Everyone
For every pair of glasses that DIFF sells, it donates a pair of reading glasses to someone in need. DIFF partnered with many charities over the years to achieve this, including its original partner, Eyes on Africa. Eyes on Africa is a nonprofit organization that emerged in 2005 that provides eyeglasses to those in Africa who lack access to vision care. Through this partnership alone, DIFF has provided glasses to over 20,000 people in need. Restoring Vision is another organization DIFF has partnered with. Restoring Vision is the largest nonprofit provider of reading glasses to people living in poverty. Through DIFF’s partnership with Restoring Vision, it has helped over 150,000 people improve their vision.
Vision Care for All
DIFF has also partnered with an organization called SVOSH. SVOSH is a student chapter of the larger Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (VOSH). Under this organization, groups of optometry students provide eye exams to impoverished communities in developing countries. It also provides visual assistance and treatments for visual ailments with the help of DIFF’s funding. Projections determined that this partnership would provide vision aid to over 10,000 people around the world in 2017.
The necessity for vision aid is a facet of poverty that people often overlook, but should not neglect. Providing vision care to people in developing countries, whether that be optometry visits or providing a pair of reading glasses, can change the lives of those 2.5 billion people in need of vision aid. Accessible vision care will help millions of children struggling in school in developing countries. According to research, giving a child the appropriate vision aid is beneficial to the equivalent of an extra six months of schooling. Giving people in poverty the gift of sight makes work easier to find and to keep.
– Amanda Gibson
Photo: PeakPx
Legacy of the North American Free Trade Agreement
In December 2019, the United States House of Representatives passed the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, ushering in a new paradigm for trade between the three North American countries. In doing so, it ended a 30-year trading period governed by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This was a landmark trade deal that George H. W. Bush initiated in 1989 with the passage of the U.S. Canada Free Trade Agreement. Negotiations with Mexico ensued, with Canada joining the talks and a conclusion of a deal between the three, signed into force under the administration of Bill Clinton in 1994. With the adoption of the USMCA, the previous agreement has become obsolete. One can now assess the legacy of the North American Free Trade Agreement, though the countries will update and analyze the agreement throughout the next few years as the components of the new deal take effect.
Proponents and Opponents of NAFTA
NAFTA broke ground in neoliberal terms. Free trade principles that Bush, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Regan championed dissolved tariffs and liberalized trade with a focus on the agriculture, textile and automobile industries. Supporters of the deal proclaimed the benefits that the deal would bring, including boosting the trade and economies of the three countries, particularly Mexico’s developing one. They forecasted that Mexicans would find better jobs in Mexico. Therefore, they would stay, rather than immigrating illegally to the United States. Furthermore, NAFTA would benefit U.S. and Canadian companies seeking markets for goods and cheap labor.
There were many arguments against NAFTA from the onset. Critics jeopardized the legacy of the North American Free Trade Agreement before it even started. Headlined by then third-party U.S. presidential candidate Ross Perot, opponents claimed that opening the Mexican border to free trade principles would result in what he called a “giant sucking sound” as companies outsourced American jobs to Mexico to seek lower wages.
The Results
With the benefit of hindsight, experts now say that NAFTA had neither as good nor as bad of an impact on the economies of the United States, Canada and Mexico as some initially predicted. Like many things, the reality lay in the middle. While trade objectively increased, even tripled by some accounts, American jobs did indeed flee to Mexico. Many left the Midwest and created the so-called Rust Belt. An article published by the Economic Policy Institute details the extent of the losses, contending that 682,900 jobs suffered in the U.S. at NAFTA’s expense. Many of these job losses, 60.8 percent, were in manufacturing. Supporters predicted manufacturing would see an increase of up to two million in five years.
In short, U.S. companies benefited at the detriment of Mexican families. Further, two million Mexican families with previous engagement in farming activities lost their livelihoods. In addition, small businesses closed in the 10s of thousands. Between NAFTA and subsequent free trade deals with countries like Peru, Colombia and some Central American and Caribbean countries, millions experienced displacement from their homes and fled. Many fled to the United States, proving to exacerbate illegal immigration rather than alleviate it. Mexico did see an increase in jobs for a while, especially in the automotive industry, expanding from 120,000 to 550,000 since 1994. However, this has not been nearly enough to offset the harm caused; even when accounting for a boost in trade and considerable improvement in foreign direct investment to Mexico from $15 to $100 billion.
The Potential Future
Overall, companies in the U.S., Canada and Mexico benefited in some ways from free trade. Generally, this left a significant legacy of the North American Free Trade Agreement. However, it came at a substantial loss for individuals and worsened existing problems like outsourcing and illegal immigration. The biggest hope for the future lies in the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement. The USMCA, agreed to by the three countries, passed with bipartisan support in the House of Representatives. Ideally, it will right some of the wrongs that NAFTA inflicted, while continuing to promote trade and economic growth in North America.
– Alex Meyers
Photo: Flickr
9 Facts about Life Expectancy in Bahrain
The Kingdom of Bahrain is the island nation between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. This former British protectorate achieved its independence in 1971. Since the discovery of oil in the mid-20th century, Bahrain’s petroleum industry has been the backbone of the country’s economy and has become one of the wealthiest countries in the world. With its newfound wealth, the Bahraini government invested in public welfare, infrastructure and public sectors. This led to a steady increase in life expectancy in Bahrain.
9 Facts about Life Expectancy in Bahrain
Life expectancy in Bahrain is very much related to the country’s economy. Since the discovery of oil in the 1930s, the Bahraini government used their newfound wealth to bolster the country’s infrastructure and health care for its citizens. With the help of international funds such as the Saudi Fund for Development, Bahrain is further bolstering its health care system. However, the country’s declining oil industry and the pollution that they cause does give rise to concerns about the future of life expectancy in Bahrain
– YongJin Yi
Photo: Flickr