>You're right, Joe, I am pessimistic. I really, very truly, hope I'm wrong, >though. > >greg > >>>> Joseph B. Reid <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 2001-05-11 12:35:31 >>> >Gregory Peterson in USMA 12729 wrote: > >>This is just the tip of the iceburg if the Free Trade Zone of the Americas >>goes through. The US economy, and US imperial, will dominate the region >>with the smaller countries trying to get a piece of the "American pie" and >>mimicing American measuring standards. I'm all for free, and fair, trade >>and I really hope I'm wrong on this meaurement point. > > > >I think Greg is too pessimistic. I have scanned every page of NAFTA (North >American Free Trade Agreement). There were very few mwntions of units in >it, but those few were nearly all metric units. I believe that the >American administration favors metric. It is the legislators, elected >politicians, who are against compulsory metric because they think that the >voters are against it. Japan started metrication in 1923 and finished the job in about 1960. The metrication of the English-speaking countries (the Commonwealth and the USA) started with India in 1957 and the United Kingdom in 1965. The conversion is in various stages of completion, being most complete in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Try to be patient; practice by watching paint dry. Joe Joseph B. Reid 17 Glebe Road West Toronto M5P 1C8 Tel. 416 486-6071
