Free Trade May Ease Migration Fears

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PHILIP MARTIN is right in the middle of the debate over President Clinton's jobs summit, with one caveat: his subject is migration rather than employment. Equally, Mr Martin's research is one of the lightning rods that is sparking debate over the employment aspects of the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) with Mexico.

In the US as in Europe, the issues of migration and employment are increasingly linked in a popular debate that often turns ugly - sometimes with the complicity of government.

With unemployment on the rise in the industrialised world, it is not surprising that there has been a backlash against the influx of political and economic …