The Tail that Wags the Dog: Business Interests and North American Deep Integration.

While it is presented as in the best interest of the general public, the current process of deep integration in North America is in fact pushed by a political coalition of business representatives, government officials, civil society organizations and members of academia. This narrow, selective coalition speaks with one voice and tries to keep other actors outside the process. Generally supported by the federal executives in the three countries, this coalition is driving a process of "evolution by stealth" aimed at streamlining the institutional framework for doing business throughout the continent.Tracking the corporate connections of the top companies in the US, Canada and Mexico we will show that country distinctions are secondary when identifying the actors pushing for deep integration.NAFTA has already largely integrated North American networks of production, investment and distribution, making the economic and political interests of the top business groups in North America converge. One critical outcome of NAFTA has been the progression consolidation of North American business class. This transnational business class is the backbone of support to deep integration beyond economic matters, and it is behind political, social, academic and media proponents of a tightly integrated North America. Borders matter to this group only to the extent they provide competitive advantages to business operations. Otherwise, from this group's perspective, borders may as well disappear. This is precisely what deep integration aims at institutionalizing.From an international political economy perspective, this paper will track some existing connections within the corporate elite in North America; in order to provide evidence of the emergence of a transnational North American business class. It will show how members of this group are interdependent, their interests converging in similar directions. Moreover, it will show there is a great deal of overlap between large business in the three countries, and this situation is constantly accentuated with mergers and acquisitions that increase ownership concentration. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]