General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsParsing the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement
The strange bedfellows of Democratic President Barack Obama and the Republican Congressional Majority Leadership seem hell-bent on writing the White House a blank fast track authority check for the largest trade deal in world history the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. To woo us, their spinmeisters boast the TPP will spur American exports to stimulate sorely needed economic growth.
In truth, the American economy will suffer severely. This is because the TPP will hammer two main drivers of economic growth domestic investment and net exports.
Domestic investment will fall because the TPP will push even more American factories offshore to Asia. Indeed, it is precisely the advantages offered by moving their production offshore that motivates Americas multinationals to lobby for the trade pacts to begin with. Sadly, the Administration has publicly identified increasing offshore investments by U.S. companies as a top TPP goal.
As for net exports, they represent the difference between how much a nation exports to the world and how much it imports. Here, while exports to Asia may indeed rise with the TPP, America will be flooded by even more imports produced by sweat shop labor in factories built with American capital that have little or no environmental protections.
We have seen this movie before. Since the South Korean Free Trade Agreement was signed in 2012, the U.S. trade deficit with South Korea has soared. In fact, shortly after South Korea won the FTA lottery, it erected new barriers to U.S. auto and auto parts exports.
more
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/238473-parsing-the-trans-pacific-partnership-agreement
pa28
(6,145 posts)No American investment means also means crumbling roads and underfunded schools.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)GATT... NAFTA... TPP... SHAFTA...
It's like a franchise or sumpin.
Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)What's that tell you?
All the other stuff you said is true too BTW.
zeemike
(18,998 posts)Most of the other things are just bullshit by comparison.
Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)Making the real divide one of an up/down ( $-wise ) more than left/right.
The plutocrats make out like bandits either way.
Dyedinthewoolliberal
(15,593 posts)I'm reading about in Naomi Klein's 'The Shock Doctrine' It's scary shit................
Omaha Steve
(99,780 posts)Great post.
K&R!
randome
(34,845 posts)Done and done.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]
jwirr
(39,215 posts)Dragonfli
(10,622 posts)The similar work done by Clinton shows it is a very lucrative move for those that follow such a road. What the impoverished think of those that put them in the poor house is not as important as what the billionaires think after being further enriched, at least to the mind of a politician. He will pass it, and sleep like a baby, a soon to be very wealthy baby.