In Response to SMS Defence of Free Trade:
Respectfully, do you realize that the TPP and TAFTA would prevent any country from responding to “hot money” by outlawing capital controls — (the only country to escape relatively unscathed from the Asian Tigers meltdown of ’97-’98 was Malaysia, the only one to institute capital controls). You do realize that “free trade” and the “comparative advantage” argument was conditioned by David Ricardo on there NOT being unfettered capital mobility across national borders. You do realize that these agreements set up court systems beyond the input of any nation’s voters. You do realize that NAFTA displaced hundreds of thousands of Mexican farmers, sending them into shanty towns circling major cities and across the deserts and into the clutches of coyotes in search of jobs.
The industry which I know most directly is the auto industry. Free trade has been a dominant feature of the car business in this country for over 40 years. Do you know how many US branded cars are sold in Japan or S Korea? Less than 0.3% and 0% of their annual sales (as of a couple years ago) respectively. Do you know how many Australian cars are sold in Japan or S Korea? 0% Do you know how many US companies own their own manufacturing plants in China, Japan or S Korea? 0% My point is the “free trade” is a rhetorical fraud when your trading partners don’t reciprocate. And our leading sources of import goods do not.
Explain the benefits of these trade pacts to the WA farmers of asparagus that are out of business since the Andean deal wiped out half the industry. Explain the benefits of NAFTA to the people living in the midwest from Pittsburgh through South Bend and Milwaukee as their manufacturing jobs have vanished.
A prominent Canadian judge was shocked that Chapter 11 of NAFTA overruled Canadian sovereignty when a US company sued the federal govt. several years ago for having a single payer health ins system that hurt the US company’s ability to profitably market its products in Canada. Another suit is currently ongoing in Quebec because they passed a moratorium on fracking. Such law suits have been undertaken on both sides of the border over public safety and health issues. And even when the right of states to pass such laws is affirmed, the states lose because all their legal costs are not covered by the awards and implementation of restrictions is delayed. These are all people, too.
I would agree with folks who say that the US economy is in transition to a more advanced plane, if they could show me that Americans no long buy things. Or if they could explain why the German and Japanese economies are still exporting manufactured goods like crazy. But they can’t.