ABSTRACT
CONTENTS Introduction............................................................................................ 424 Comparative Advantage and the United States-Mexico Border............... 424 The United States and Mexico Border: September 11th, China,
and Port Disruptions .......................................................................... 425 Strategic Resources .................................................................................. 429 China and Cheap Labor.......................................................................... 431 Southern Border Security: The Impacts of a Shutdown
on Regional Economies....................................................................... 433
Conclusion.............................................................................................. 438 Endnotes ................................................................................................. 439
Introduction In many ways, the movement of goods and people between the United States and Mexico has been cumbersome for years, but a total slowdown or even a lockdown of the border was never fully understood until 9/11. At one level, the entire scope of security changed, and at another level, the value of trade between the two nations was reassessed leading to a simple question, what happens if the border was closed for an extended period of time?
