MacArthur, John R. The Selling of "Free Trade": NAFTA, Washington, and the Subversion of American Democracy. New York: Hill and Wang, 2000. 388 pages.

John R. MacArthur is concerned about the power of cynical public relations professionals, who are able to shape policies that are viciously opposed to the average person's interests, while claiming that it's all being done for the greater good. MacArthur publishes Harper's Magazine and lives in New York City. His previous book was "Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf War."

This book is a study of how a slick Bill Clinton and his staff backed big corporations against labor, and shoved NAFTA down the throats of working people. The Democratic Party sensed that corporate executives were more important to their future than a few confused and disorganized labor unions, and decided to push NAFTA. Only H. Ross Perot clearly announced what would happen, but he was easily marginalized by media spin. Today factories are relocating to Mexico, just as he predicted. This book is a sandwich: part one starts at a U.S. factory in New York, part two is a detailed exposition of the insider machinations that pushed NAFTA through Congress, and part three is a visit to that factory as it begins operations in Mexico. The middle of the sandwich is overly detailed and a tough read, but the first and last parts save the book. It's not often that someone who inherited lots of money takes the trouble to discover how the working class lives.
ISBN 0-8090-8531-3

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