EDITORIAL (Continued from page 5)
GDP of $16 trillion (after the loss of $3 trillion from the UK) and a population of 444 million consumers (after the loss of 64 million UK residents).
New Opportunity for the U.S. and the UK In the words of Helen Keller, “When one door closes, another opens. Too often, we look so long at the closed door, that we fail to see the one that has opened.” Keller, the “Miracle worker,” believed that alone we can do so little; together, we can do so much. Invite the U.K. to join NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and rename it the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement. The NAFTA treaty, signed in 1994 between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, builds trade links between 477 million people (320 million in the U.S., 122 million in Mexico, and 35 million in Canada), with a combined GDP of $19 trillion (U.S. $16 trillion, Canada $2 trillion, and Mexico $1 trillion). NAFTA is strictly a free-trade organization, not a European Union with its own multinational, quasi-government, nor its own parliament, its own laws and regulations, its own currency (the euro), or its own flag. Adding the UK as a member of a the new North Atlantic Free Trade agreement would add another market of 64 million consumers and a GDP of $2.7 trillion to the NAFTA total, making NAFTA a much stronger trading partner in terms of leverage on the global stage. The UK, the sixth-largest economy in the world, shares a common heritage and common language with the U.S. and Canada. It is, and has been, our closest ally for more than a century. Adding the UK to NAFTA, would offer the U.S., Canada, and Mexico a new window into continental Europe to negotiate stronger and smarter trade agreements that reduce unemployment, promote economic growth, and boost job creation on both the North American and European continents. What the UK wanted from EU was a union of trade. What it got was an EU bureaucracy that became unnecessarily meddlesome, agonizingly self-important, and extremely costly. The difference with a new North Atlantic trading partnership would be an alliance limited to trade agreements, tariff reductions, and the simplification of travel arrangements, while staying away from divisive issues such as uncontrolled immigration and the notion of one unified European government bogged down by a Brussels-based regulatory bureaucracy.
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) The addition of the UK into NAFTA would perfectly complement the February 2016 signing of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific trade agreement among the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Chile, Viet Nam, Malaysia, Peru, and Brunei. The goals of this agreement are similar to NAFTA – lower trade barriers, reduced tariffs, higher economic growth, greater job creation, enhanced innovation, reduced poverty, greater transparency, and good governance in the Pacific Rim.
Lessons Learned A union of the UK with the U.S., Canada, and Mexico would soften anxieties on at least two continents and provide stability among equals, rather than continued recriminations, uncertainty, and economic and monetary upheavals. •MJ
WFG welcomes Raegan Erdman to the Montecito Location within the Costa Villa Cour tyard!
Raegan Erdman Certied Escrow Ofcer O: 805.324.4777 | F: 805.456.0580 rerdman@wfgtitleco.com California.WFGNationalTitle.com Please visit WFG and Raegan at: 1155 Coast Village Road, Suite B Montecito, CA 93108
Mention this ad and receive a 15% discount
(up to $500 value) FULL SERVICE PLUMBING COMPANY SPECIALIZING IN: • 24 HOUR DRAIN CLEANING SERVICE • VIDEO PIPELINE INSPECTION • ALL YOUR PLUMBING NEEDS • TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGY
Stewart’s
Choose a real estate team with the knowledge that matters.
DE-ROOTING & PLUMBING
(805) 965-8813 License #375514
“The Plumber with a conscience” DANA ZERTUCHE
S U S A N B U R N S.com
LORI BOWLES
805.565.8822
COLDWELL BANKER
14 – 21 July 2016
12 9 0 C o a s t V i l l a g e R o a d , M o n t e c i t o
P R E V I E W S I N T E R N AT I O N A L
*Discount applies to services under $500.00 and must be paid by check at time of service (Limit one coupon per customer)
One remedy for hiccups is to squeeze the tip of either pinky, for about a minute
MONTECITO JOURNAL
21