MONDAY
1. THEORY
2. ANALYTICS
Less Globalization, More Multilateralism
WEDNESDAY
3. CURRENT ISSUES
4. STATISTICS
5. ANALYTICAL COMMENTARY
VOCABULARY & GRAMMAR
KEY TERMS
| economic bloc | a set of countries which engage in international trade together, and are usually related through a free trade agreement or other association |
| gross domestic product (GDP) | the total monetary or market value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period |
| market access | the ability of a company or country to sell goods and services across borders |
| customs procedures | the set of managements and operations that are carried out related to a specific customs destination |
| standards harmonization | technical specifications meeting the essential requirements of the EU directives |
| social welfare policies | aims to protect citizens who may be considered poor, unemployed, unhealthy, or marginalized from their community |
| common currency | money system for more than one country |
| representative body | a body or persons (an association, trade union, works council) chosen to make decisions or craft the policy on behalf of a larger group |
| admission | the process or fact of entering or being allowed to enter an organization |
| per capita income | a measure of the amount of money earned per person in a nation or geographic region |
FOCUS WORDS
| mitigate | смягчать, уменьшать |
| enhance | повышать, усиливать, увеличивать |
| inherent | присущий, неотъемлемый, свойственный, врожденный |
| restrict | ограничивать, держать в определённых пределах; сводить к |
| scrutiny | изучение, исследование, внимательный осмотр |
| diversify | разнообразить, варьировать |
| emergence | появление, возникновение |
| undermine | подрывать, разрушать |
| erode | разрушать, разъедать, размывать |
| boost | форсировать, повышать, стимулировать, ускорять |
PREPOSITIONS
- to some extent
- depend on
- support for
- rely on
- with regard to
- access to
- incentive for
- emphasis on
- increase in
- strain on
WORDS FOR REPORT
| grow at a modest pace |
| the turnout rates |
| account for |
| to be projected to reach |
| respectively |
| a higher share of |
| considerably less likely |
| the median age |
GRAMMAR PATTERNS
The House vote came more than a year after the three countries’ leaders signed the USMCA in Buenos Aires in November 2018 – a longer wait than many had anticipated, but shorter than others had expected after the Republicans lost their House majority in last year’s midterm elections.
Officials and analysts in the three countries had been hopeful that Congress would approve the agreement.
But if the pact is intended to boost Mexico’s economic growth and welfare, and bolster the rule of law, it will not achieve these goals any time soon.
The political issue was obvious: if Pelosi supported the USMCA (thereby showing that the Democrats could “do the people’s business”), she would give Trump a win at the same time that the House was impeaching him.
But if she opposed the pact on the grounds that it failed to meet the demands of US labor organizations, she would expose the Democrats to Trump’s charge that they are interested only in overturning the result of the 2016 election.
But if the pact is intended to boost Mexico’s economic growth and welfare, and bolster the rule of law, it will not achieve these goals any time soon.
Many congressional Democrats demanded that the agreement be revised to allow US officials to conduct unannounced in situ inspections of plants and companies in Mexico.
The new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement may well succeed in marginally improving America’s position regarding jobs, investment, labor, the environment, and dispute settlement.