Globalization/U.S. Decline Right on Schedule Courtesy Obama Backdown…Summer 2010 Projected Completion of Integration of NAFTA with EU to Counter BRIC/ASEAN Bloc

~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL

A couple of days ago I posted some thoughts on “Globalization in Pictures: Courtesy AT & T”.

Then I stumbled across an update of a something far more “under the radar” that I had found back in March of 2009. See below for the link to that post, specifically the section titled “Canada-EU Free Trade?”

The gist of that tidbit from March follows:

Friday I received the daily newsletter from Radio Canada International and once again there were squibs included that I couldn’t find at either the RCI site or when I searched around the CBC’s news area.

Read these with an eye to several posts that will be starting tomorrow, with American Lassies’s post entitled “THE PROPOSED NORTH AMERICAN COMMUNITY/NORTH AMERICAN UNION: 2010 Is Just Around the Corner.”

OTTAWA: CANADA, EU AGREE ON FREE-TRADE AGENDA

Canada and the European Union have agreed on a framework for negotiation of a free-trade accord after six months of discussions. Canadian Trade Minister Stockwell Day says the two parties will discuss goods and services, investment rules, intellectual property and free circulation of workers. The minister says Canada’s provinces will take part in the negotiations. Bilateral trade last year was worth $90 billion, an increase of seven per cent over 2007.

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Well, guess what? Things have been moving along…and  include MORE than Canada and the EU.

From Fortune at money.cnn.com:

Plotting the biggest trade deal of the 21st century

Tax-free Champagne, anyone?

European and North American politicians are plotting the biggest trade deal of the 21st century: a $35 trillion, duty-free region encompassing the E.U., the U.S., Canada, and Mexico

by Erik Heinrich, contributor

Last Updated: October 29, 2009: 2:17 PM ET

TORONTO (Fortune) — Not even Franz Kafka could have dreamed this one up.

This past spring, prime ministers Stephen Harper of Canada and Mirek Topolanek of the Czech Republic met with European Union mandarins from Brussels. The setting was Prague’s medieval castle — made famous by Kafka in what is perhaps the darkest novel in his moody oeuvre — where they hatched a plan for the biggest free-trade deal of the 21st century.

How could a development of this magnitude result from a fairly routine conference between Canada and the EU? (At the time, the Czech Republic was responsible for the trading bloc’s presidency, which rotates between member states every six months.) The short answer is that after decades of spinning their wheels, Canada and the EU finally agreed to begin negotiating a free-trade agreement (FTA).

Immediately after declaring these talks as “hatching” the plans for “the biggest free-trade deal of the 21st century,” the reporter immediately shifts gears:

That’s far from a Bond-villain plot for world domination. But fast forward to last week in Ottawa, Canada, where the first round of Canada-EU negotiations reached a successful conclusion, with both sides optimistic that a deal can be signed as early as the summer of 2010.

Wow, I’m so relieved! No “plot for world domination” here!

But it all boils down to trying to save the neck of the U.S. apparently (my bolding):

When that happens, a push will begin for the ultimate goal behind the Prague agreement: a NAFTA-EU trade zone to counterbalance the growing economic power of Fortress Asia, and the ascendancy of the so-call BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) group of countries.

“The U.S. will lose its leadership position in trade unless it comes up with a new strategy,” says Steven Schrage, a specialist in international business at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. “It makes sense to integrate NAFTA with the EU.”

Annual two-way trade between Canada and EU is about $100 billion, less than 20% of the total between Canada and the U.S. under NAFTA. But a trans-Atlantic NAFTA-EU trade zone would encompass nearly 1 billion people and account for $35.2 trillion in annual GDP, more than half the world’s total.

The article continues by noting that  China, India, and the 10 ASEAN nations (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) are “not standing still.” Our buddies at Goldman Sachs opine that “by 2050 the world’s three biggest economies will be China, the U.S. and India in that order, compared to the U.S., Japan and Germany today. That represents a clear shift away from the G7.”

A NAFTA-EU trade deal may get stiff opposition here in the U.S.  Why?

However with protectionist sentiment in the U.S. gaining momentum, helped in part by President Obama’s controversial Buy-American position, getting the world’s biggest economy to expand its free-trade frontier could be an uphill battle. At least for the near term.

But wait a minute…

Marc Ambinder in The Atlantic provided a transcript of Obama’s musings in his piece of February 3, 2009 titled  Obama Wants “Buy American” Out Of Stimulus Bill and you can find more stories on the “back down” below!

So, the Fortune report seems to have “forgotten” what went on in February.  Which begs the question–how “uphill” will be this “battle” to integrate NAFTA with the EU in the “near term”?

In my last post I listeda series of posts related to globalization and here’s the link to the post by American Lassie titled  THE PROPOSED NORTH AMERICAN COMMUNITY/NORTH AMERICAN UNION: 2010 Is Just Around the Corner (March 9, 2009) that was mentioned above.

So, do you think all this NAFTA-EU “conflict” will be settled sometime next year?

Well, silly me!  The Fortune article actually informs us that “both sides optimistic that a deal can be signed as early as the summer of 2010.”

DUH!

Everything right on schedule!!!

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Related Post on Canada-EU Free Trade from March 2009:

The Past Week: March 1-7, 2009 (More on Sinclair Lewis; Canada-EU Free Trade?; China Eyeing the Big Three Automakers’ “Juicy Bits”?; Palin’s “Troopergate” Foe Winds Up In Obama Administration)

Related Posts from February 2009 on Obama’s backdown on “Buy America”:

President Obama to water down ‘Buy American’ plan after EU trade war threat (The Times, UK)

Obama backs down over ‘Buy America’ after EU warns him not to start a global trade war (Daily Mail, UK)

Don’t worry about ‘Buy American’: Obama (Rediff India Abroad)

When is Being “Reasonable” Simply “Unreasonable”? (Especially When It Comes to Our Money?)

~~By Kenosha Marge

There have been a few voices speaking quietly amongst all the shrill voices playing “Monkey Pile on AIG”. At first glance these seem to be the voices of reason. They don’t pile on and they don’t suggest Hari Kari. They simply, and of course reasonably, tell us that we must at times swallow the bitter medicine if we are to get well. Bitter pills to swallow must sometimes, unhappily, be swallowed. The very reasonableness of their words makes one listen.

These are the people that routinely tell us the yes, yes the financial institutions that screwed the pooch so egregiously are bad but allowing them to go down would be worse. We simply must prop up, bailout, and otherwise help them with taxpayer dollars because they are just too big to fail. As many smarter than me have said, too big to fail is too big to exist.

However those quiet, reasonable voices continue to whisper sweet nothings in our ears. Yes, yes, dear little taxpayer who is getting screwed, this is just too, too terrible. But what be must be. Feel that condescending hand patting you on your pointy little head yet?

The voices of reason tell us that we must pay those financially ludicrous bonuses to those at AIG who failed their company so completely. Ran it right into the ground they did and now they get “retention bonuses”? You mean we actually are supposed to want them to stay? WTF?

Then comes the part I like best, the part about retention bonuses being such a small part of the monies being spent. Hey, lighten up people; it’s only $165,000.000.00 or so, just a drop in the bucket. Just chump change as it were. Their idea of “chump change” is my “hallelujah I’m rich beyond my wildest dreams” change.

“Politicians say they’re beefing up our economy.  Most don’t know beef from pork.”  ~Harold Lowman

These quiet reasonable voices frequently tell us not to worry about such small sums when so many much larger sums are being misspent. That certainly seems reasonable. Unless you happen to be old enough to remember when sums like these newly named small amounts were considered large.

I remember back when we thought that a million dollars was a large amount. In fact, I still do. That is a whole lot of money that is taken from taxpayers. For most of those taxpayers, a million bucks is more than chump change.

Those little “porky” projects and sums that Senator Chuck Schumer seems to think citizens aren’t concerned about DO concern many of us. If those sums and little piglet projects are so meaningless then send some of them my way. I am not a spendthrift, live within my means and would love to have a million dollars to spend. I promise I would spend it far more carefully and reasonably than the pinheads sitting in Washington.

The Democrats seem to be basically nicer people, but they have demonstrated time and again that they have the management skills of celery.  They’re the kind of people who’d stop to help you change a flat, but would somehow manage to set your car on fire.  I would be reluctant to entrust them with a Cuisinart, let alone the economy.

The Republicans, on the other hand, would know how to fix your tire, but they wouldn’t bother to stop because they’d want to be on time for Ugly Pants Night at the country club.  ~Dave Barry

Now according to what I’ve read many experts are pooh-poohing the idea that an outraged citizenry should be worrying about “chump change” like the $165,000,000.00 in retention bonuses that AIG handed out using our money. In fact all those freewheeling, free-spending politicians were caught flat-footed by the anger of the taxpayers. Then their own self-serving, self-preserving hypocrisy kicked in;  fingers hastily pulled from their butts and now held in the wind told them the natives were getting restless.

Their primary concern, re-election kicked in and every pinhead that could rise to their feet on the Senate or the House is now expressing his/her faux-rage. Media seeking pols like heat-seeking missiles looked around for the nearest microphone. There was a sudden need to express their shock and rage at this travesty and throw their own phony little hiss-fit.

If the politician in question did vote against the porkulus bill and did have a conniption fit because no one was reading it,  then they have at least a right to half a faux-rage. They are only half as hypocritical as their fellow pols. Well la-dee-da.

Senator Chuck Grassley even joked that perhaps the people in charge over at AIG should resign or commit suicide. Ha-ha.

There ought to be one day – just one – when there is open season on senators.  ~Will Rogers

My point, and yes, I do have one, is that I believe that if you have any integrity, if you are a tiny bit honest, if you are even half of a decent person, you would take seriously the vast amounts of money that is taken from the American people and use it carefully. Use it for the greater good. Now I do realize that this suggests that the people we elect have some character. And therein lies the real problem.

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.  ~Aesop

Most Americans now seem to know that we have a bunch of free-spending, lying, and good-for-nothing hypocrites in our government. Some are out and out crooks. Others are so stupid-silly that you wonder how stupid-silly must be the people that voted for Senator/Representative Silly-Stupid.

Voters have been known to vote for Senator/Representative Silly-Stupid even when those folks are under indictment or under investigation for criminal activity.

The only difference between the Democrats and the Republicans is that the Democrats allow the poor to be corrupt, too.  ~Oscar Levant.

Now that the cat is out of the bag all the Silly-Stupid Politicians are in a faux-rage over the $165,000,000.00 in retention bonuses over at AIG. The public is in lynch mode and the Silly-Stupid Media smells blood in the water and is going into shark mode.

All the rage and hysteria will soon have people all tired out. The media will find the next shiny object to hyperventilate about while ignoring real outrages committed by our government every single day.

Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks.  ~Doug Larson

The media, like our elected officials are cool insiders that find the concerns and well being of your average citizen slightly less interesting than the cost of their next overpriced lunch at a trendy restaurant where all the other cool folks hang out to show how cool and trendy they are.  And the reasonable voices will speak soothingly of the small amounts of money being spent on little porky projects.

A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country.  ~Texas Guinan