Customer Reviews

Understanding NAFTA: Mexico, Free Trade, and the New North America

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This book is about Mexico - with litte coverage of how NAFTA affects Canada. It presents Mexico and its circumstances in a realistic manner. It is well written and easy to read. We recommend it to our clients interested in learning more about the Mexican people and the national economy. John R. Jagoe, Director, Export Institute.

Orme presents a very readable account of the many changes taking place in Mexico as they relate to Nafta and the environment leading up to it. The book mainly discusses how Mexico and the US are integrating and largely ignores Canada, which he feels was taken care of in the FTA.

Overall, a very good account and introduction.

Overall, I think this book is a very good analysis of NAFTA. It highlights the economic history of Mexico and the role of Salinas in getting NAFTA off the ground. Orme presents a wealth of material that has definitely increased my knowledge of the agreement. Orme does an excellent job in elucidating the good facets of NAFTA; however, to get a better viewpoint of what NAFTA has done at the local level, I would encourage someone to read any recent ethnography of rural peoples in Mexico. Particularly those farmers who are eking out a living in the southern parts of Mexico, so they can buy corn grown in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Orme barely mentions the Zapatista uprising, though this is due in part to the publication date of the book. Also, I think much of the optimism surrounding the agreement in the book has been largely muted by the events of 9/11. Issues surrounding tighter border security has, in large part, replaced those surrounding free trade.