Sunday, October 4, 2015

Joseph E. Stiglitz and Adam S. Hersh — The Trans-Pacific Free-Trade Charade

As negotiators and ministers from the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries meet in Atlanta in an effort to finalize the details of the sweeping new Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), some sober analysis is warranted. The biggest regional trade and investment agreement in history is not what it seems.

You will hear much about the importance of the TPP for “free trade.” The reality is that this is an agreement to manage its members’ trade and investment relations – and to do so on behalf of each country’s most powerful business lobbies. Make no mistake: It is evident from the main outstanding issues, over which negotiators are still haggling, that the TPP is not about “free” trade.…


Project Syndicate
The Trans-Pacific Free-Trade Charade
Joseph E. Stiglitz and Adam S. Hersh

6 comments:

Matt Franko said...

And so...?????

Ryan Harris said...

Creating regulatory barriers to trade.
Boosting the price of drugs to the world is good too, as Matt says, price is no object, the governments can always write the check. So these Biotech investors are take it to the logical extreme and see what happens as people consume drug regimens that cost as much as their entire gross labor output, for a three month supply. It will be interesting in macro sense. Disruptovators.

Matt Franko said...

Well why didnt the govt just buy the rights and open source it? They could do that with pharma in general...

Matt Franko said...

Then the only thing in the recurring price would be manufacturing and some appropriate level of profit... no rent...

Ryan Harris said...

Because innovation comes from disruptivators not government, according to the narrative

Matt Franko said...

But this last one was out for quite a long time... not a recent innovation...