Most of you do not want to spend a lot of time learning new terms, memorizing formulas, or mastering details that are important only to professional economists. What you want are the insights of economics that really matter-those that will help you make better personal choices and enhance your understanding of our complex world.

This book is a collection of essays by respected academics from Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. They cut through the complexities of NAFTA and provide the reader with a clear view of the main issues. The book asks whether NAFTA is a free trade agreement or just an agreement on how to manage a limited amount of trade. How ill Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. benefit? How will disputes get settled between these countries? The book also takes on the difficult question of what effect free trade in ideas, skills, and capital will have on North-American culture.

Liberalizing trade through the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and similar regional treaties raises hopes for increased prosperity for the Western hemisphere. A united North American marketplace would have a combined purchasing power of more than $6 trillion, making it the world's largest trade bloc.