Friday Letter The sound of money

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which liberalized trade restrictions among Canada, Mexico and the US, went into effect on January 1, 1994 despite fierce opposition from American labour unions, Mexican farmers, Zapatista revolutionaries and an outspoken US presidential candidate—Texas billionaire Ross Perot infamously remarked that NAFTA would create a “giant sucking sound” as American jobs were lost to cheaper labour south of the border. More than a decade later, it seems those anxieties were misplaced. Domestic workers had much more to fear from the Far East than they ever did from Mexico.