The Maquiladora Socio Economic And Environmental Impact On The U.s.

1. Do you think the expansion of maquiladoras has been more of a benefit or a harm to Mexico? Why?

Neoliberal reforms are, “economic changes focused on opening up the economy to global markets and reducing state spending on social welfare” (Golash-Boza). The U.S. created many neoliberal reforms with South America allowing for the trade of American goods. One very well know reform would be the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This reform eradicated tariff barriers between Mexico and the U.S. and caused mass unemployment in Mexico. The eradication of tariffs meant that Mexican farmers were unable to compete with the prices of

Mario García’s study of this era could also be considered prophetic to many Mexicans in the mid-nineties as the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed, it sank México’s economy, lands that the Mexican revolution had provided for farmers were gone, and as México was now obliged with treaty to buy produce from the United States. Mexican farmers unable to compete fled México once again in search for a better life to the United States.

Raat, W. Dirk, and Michael M. Brescia. Mexico and the United States : Ambivalent Vistas (4th Edition). Athens, GA, USA: University of Georgia Press, 2010.

The U.S-Mexico Border stands as divider between two nations that have different styles of govern. America has for the most part advertised that it is great to live in America and to be American. So there is no question why masses of Mexican migrants would want to build a better life in the U.S. There was a border put in place to divide two nations that are so close, yet so far. As conditions worsened in one country people were left with the only choice to migrate to the U.S. The economic opportunity that thrives in America should be present in Mexico in order to keep jobs and families at home. The people of Mexico cross over to the U.S because of the needs in improvements in Mexico’s economy, security, and poverty.

They saw that Mexico’s environmental regulations were less strict and those that were in place were loosely enforced. American industries would see Mexico as a pollution haven where they could set up less environmentally sound facilities to increase overall profit. Therefore, the NAFTA was seen as beneficial to the American environment at the expense of that of Mexico’s. A question that members of the NAFTA panel must ask themselves is “…is it economically efficient and morally justifiable for agents to satisfy their demand for high environmental standards by allowing others to despoil their environment?” (Kaufmann, par. 45).

However, around the 1970’s, people began to become hostile about this government intervention and started to believe there should be a free market to minimalize government involvement (lecture). Neoliberalism marks a retreat from the liberal social democracy with focus on free trade, opposition to government regulation, refusal of responsibility for social welfare, and resource privatization (Alison Jaggar). The opposition of government regulation focuses specifically on aspects such as production of wages, working conditions, and environmental protections, while also pressing governments to abandon social welfare responsibilities (Alison Jaggar). Neoliberalism supports capitalism and the free flow of goods, resources, and people, while actively seeking to control that flow (Alison Jaggar). Neoliberalism takes advantage of inequalities between countries by increasing the gap between developing and developed nations

between the three countries. By the end of the 1900s there were 4,000 factories in

The importance of a border region has always been an issue of sovereignty--which national or international power can claim the right to control a border? The U.S./Mexico borderlands are no exception, and the transgression between malleable policies and stringent militarization has occurred rapidly throughout the 20th century. The high levels of socioeconomic and political ties that have existed within the border regions of California, New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona have evolved since the boom of industrialization that occurred after World War II. The development of a relationship between the United States and Mexico has been intertwined since the 1800s and policies concerning border politics have led us to believe that the border region is

The 20th century economics in the United States were heavily determined by Reagan’s economic policies and political legacies, which eventually resulted in free market expansion. Ronal Reagan, the 40th president of the US, contributed significantly to the boom in America’s economy. A few of the major things he stressed on included controlling inflation, expanding free market, and established major economic laws and policies.

There are many contribution that mark the fabric of history, and usually some of those contribution are developments society had made at that point in time. Some of those developments are either done through societies working individually, or cooperatively. The United States does not have a long history as a country in general but has become one of the most developed nations. One can debate whether the U.S was mostly developed through individual actions as a nation or through cooperating with other countries. In the other hand we have Mexico, similar to the U.S, has been a newly raised nation but has developed differently. It was not long ago that these two countries decided work together in order to help develop each other. The U.S and

Maquiladoras are factories in Mexico that are foreign-owned and their products do to countries outside Mexico. The maquiladora addressed in the paper by Morales et al., (2012) refers to a chemical plant in the city of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. This city borders El Paso, Texas (2012, p.1). This plant called “Solvay” (p. 5) is a large producer of hydrofluoric acid (p. 6). This acid is used by countries all around the world for the productions of pharmaceuticals, high-octane gasoline, and refrigerants (p. 6). This acid is corrosive and toxic. The fumes from this acid can “be fatal” (p.10). Although Solvay is located in Mexico it does not provide much to the community except low-skilled labour and an increase in exports (p.8). In other words, a large part of the benefits are taken by the multinational company who owns the plant and the locals are set to take on most of the risk.

Neoliberalism is a direct descendent of 19th century liberalism and was explicitly intended to re-create ‘laissez-faire’ conditions for markets in the 20th century (Hayter and Barnes 200). In

As firms increased commerce by expanding their business into markets located in different countries, numerous trade barriers and international restrictions have been progressively disabled. This cross-border trading has changed the once historically distinct and separate national markets into a global marketplace. Now the economies of countries throughout the world have become interpedently linked. This process of global integration is called globalization. However, the impact of globalization expands further than economic transformation and unification. In the Hispanic country of Mexico, globalization has given rise to maquiladoras. The

Mexico is a product of its past; political violence early in its history proceeded to cause a quasi-authoritarian, corporatist regime. Its nationalist tone was a result of both foreign intervention and a search for stability, workers were expectant of unionized labor creating job security and a living wage, and businesses were accustomed to subsidies and tariff protection (Gill, 2014). However, this all changed in the 1980’s when Mexico experienced an economic crisis when the international economy changed, but interests in Mexico did not, causing a reimagining of both economic policies and the political system. Grassroots demand for democracy led the system from a one party system to a multiparty one. This crisis also showcased economic