ManattJones CEO Interviewed on North American Summit
“Business Leaders Want Action at Summit”
The Record
August 18, 2007 – The Record, a newspaper of Ontario, Canada, quoted ManattJones Chairman and CEO James R. Jones on the North American summit that will bring together U.S. President George Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
The Record reports that Americans are increasingly distraught about globalization. Top U.S. business executives, who are frustrated with what they view as a “languid pace of change,” will be pushing Bush to jump-start efforts to ease trade and offer some concessions to Harper. They’ll also raise their concerns that their goals could be thwarted by critics who maintain there’s a plot to turn North America into a single trading bloc.
"I am utterly astounded at the abject fear that has gripped this nation,'' said Jones, who is a former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. "We're losing our confidence as a country.''
Jones says Bush, Harper and Calderon need to take some big chances, like pouring lots of money into infrastructure and a massive development program for Mexico, where half the population is no better off under the North American Free Trade Agreement.