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Free Trade: If it Works Here, It Will Work Anywhere
Most Americans have, for generations, never truly questioned the basic system that allows goods and services to flow across state borders, unencumbered by tariffs, taxes, or other measures that would protect local industries from rivals in other states. And yet, many criticize international free trade agreements for their supposed pernicious results. Why the hypocrisy?
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The Implications of Economic Liberalization for Egypt
No state in today’s world can escape globalization. The socialist policies adopted by former Egyptian president Nasser in the 1960s might have been suitable for his time. However, the present international system requires the removal of all trade barriers between states. In Egypt, some intellectuals are criticizing Egypt for taking […]
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Why having the wrong phone carrier in Costa Rica can cost you a date
It was early evening on Maundy Thursday. I was in San José, Costa Rica, visiting a friend, and we and a small group of her friends had just come back from a trip to the mountains. Since it was a holiday in a Catholic state, we had a really hard time […]
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Down at heel? Brazil and the international shoe trade
On the issue of free trade agreements, what’s better than the workers’ point of view? In 2012, during a national conference of the footwear industry workers, I became aware of Brazilian workers’s take on the flow of shoes, their jobs, Chinese goods and international agreements.
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The ‘cultural exception’ in a digital age
The digital era is transforming the way in which people consume cultural products. It’s not uncommon for younger consumers to have neither a television nor a radio because the internet meets all their cultural needs from streaming and downloading music to television, movies, books and news on demand from anywhere […]