Editorial

Trade agreements reduce trade barriers, which promotes economic growth and cooperative relationships between nations. Because 95 percent of consumers reside outside U.S. borders, we must constantly be looking for ways to increase access to foreign markets and ensure America’s competitiveness in an increasingly global marketplace. Negotiating trade agreements reduce tariffs between countries and open previously closed markets. Trade with foreign nations represents tremendous opportunities for the American economy. Canada and Mexico accounted for almost 34 percent of all U.S.

Prior to the panic of 1857 there was little interest in practical agriculture in Nebraska Territory. Land ownership was sought for speculative purposes rather than for farming. Riverfront lots in some towns sold for as much as ten thousand dollars; those three or four blocks back brought two thousand dollars; even those as much as half a mile away brought twelve hundred dollars. In most cases the sellers had acquired these properties either by preemption or for just a few dollars only two or three years earlier.