FTAA

Essay by DRobertsCollege, UndergraduateA+, March 2004

download word file, 28 pages 3.0

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Introduction

The Bahamas has traditionally been a vibrant resilient heaven of economic activity despite its limitations of natural resources. As entrance to the Free Trade Area of the Americas would severely challenge the existing position of the Bahamian economy if care were not taken to guard our heritage. It appears as if the larger member countries stand to reap major benefits in light of the Agreement, while little countries like the Bahamas will end up sacrificing most if not all of their sovereignty. This does not look like a good move for the Bahamas government whose concern should be the best interest of the Bahamian people because the Bahamas does not have major export manufacturing industries, which would benefit from easier access for their products to foreign markets in exchange for easier access to the Bahamian market for foreign products. How will we, the Bahamas, replace our main source of revenue? Which is Custom Duties.

What effects will the FTAA have on our Human capital? How will we as Bahamians compete for jobs? How will local businesses compete? These are just a few problems that the Bahamas will be faced with and must carefully scrutinize all of the possibilities before agreeing to become a member of the Free Trade Area of the Americas in 2005. In this research paper I will attempt to find the answer to these questions and clearly express the effects of the Free Trade Area of the Americas on our Bahamian economy through extensive research.

My Aims are:

·To investigate the Free trade Area of the Americas' effect on our tax system.

·To examine the effect of the Free Trade Area of the Americas on local business and firms.

·To discover how the main source of government revenue (Custom Duties) will be affected by the Free...