Hardened/Open Border Paradox Forum 3 HLSS311 - Assignment Example

Open market and Closed borders al Affiliation) Concept of free market and closed borders The concept of free market reform and economic integration is an important theme in the Americas. There is a vision to embrace free market in the region that will involve unregulated trading zones. On the contrary, the free market zone is regulated by the United States of America due to illegal drugs and immigrants. Import restrictions on illegal goods in the United States of America is increasing daily in the form of policies (Johnson 2008).

Advocating for free market trade by economists has promoted open borders, but criminalization affects liberalization logic. Policy makers in the USA face the predicament of promoting borderless economies which undermine their efforts of securing the borders. Free societies havent closed borders and most individuals wish to move to other countries for white collar jobs. The United States of America is pushing for open border for legal flow of goods from Mexico and close it for drugs and immigrants.

Pay riding The tragic events of 11th September 2001 made the USA take their security seriously. The government reacted by tightening security at the borders. Pay riding is a situation where individuals in a society, consume more than their fair share of a resource or they pay less than the required share of a common resourceLess permeable borders slows down the migration of human capital and trade flows. Outcomes of free riding and pay riding are similar and they generate solutions that diverge from the solutions (Appollonia&Reich 2008).

The outcome leaves the United State of America in a position in which they bear a huge percentage of terrorism.Overtime and other industrial economies have incentives to stop pay riding in the United States of America and adopt tighter security measures. The multilateral approach used to counter terrorism will progressively change from the USA to other economies. Diversion of the national output from the external to domestic market means that the solutions are likely to turn into a multilateral solution.

An attempt to minimize the cost of hardened borders will result to a deeper regional trade prejudice (Johnson 2007).It is cost effective to spend millions to stop certain individuals from harming citizens in the United States of America. War on terror will lead to the flow of goods and services from one economy to another (Johnson 2007). It is important to fight terror because it enables the economy to function in an effective manner without any interruptions. It is a costly approach due to the resources devoted in fighting terror.

Tighter security at the border result into the countries diverting trade towards economies that have smaller restrictions. Decreased international trade flow does not imply a reduction in the gross domestic product (Johnson 2008). It will lower the welfare and attempts to reduce border security will lead to regional trade prejudice.It goes against common sense when great powers like the United States of America spends a lot of money building and making their borders less permeable (Appollonia&Reich 2008).

They have put a lot of resources in hardening their borders like constructing a fence in San Diego. The fence has failed to block individuals from accessing the United States of America territory.The United States of America has often put less restrictions on the north border that is neighboring Canada. The government is placing priorities on the south border rather than the north. It is ironic because of the measures placed after the September 11 to fight the war on terror. Increasing security in the wake of terrorism will result in conversion of small investments into disruption of day to day life situations.

Open and hardened border paradox can be overcome by balancing between accessing and overall control of the border (Appollonia&Reich 2008). It will result to the best alternative that will be crucial to the economy of the United States of America. ReferencesAppollonia, A., & Reich, S. (2008).Immigration, integration, and security: America and Europe in comparative perspective. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.Johnson, D. V. (2008). Borders: technology and security -- strategic responses to new challenges.

Carlisle Barracks, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College.Johnson, K. R. (2007). Opening the floodgates: why America needs to rethink its borders and immigration laws. New York: New York University Press.