Mexico: Was NAFTA Worth it? If there was ever a litmus test for globalization, NAFTA was it. Nearly 10 years ago, the bloc melded two first-world economies -- The U.S. and Canada -- With a struggling developing nation, Mexico. As a result, foreign investment flooded in, exports grew threefold, and Mexico's per capita income rose 24%, seemingly ample proof that free trade delivers. But a large ...