The TTP would be the biggest trade agreement that US is part of; yet, the text of the agreement is still secret and may never be released to the public. The president is asking for fast track legislation which would allow only an up or down vote in Congress with no modifications allowed. So is TTP a good thing? Here is one take (see link).
So the op-ed piece gives three myths:
The first "myth" is that trade agreements have hurt U.S. manufacturing workers and thereby the labor market more generally.....
The second "myth" is:
"the TPP would degrade labor and environmental standards and raise
drug costs. .... As for the environment, there is nothing new in the TPP
that would affect existing dispute-resolution mechanisms. Finally, it
is far from certain that new protections for drug companies would lead
to higher drug costs."...
"A third myth is that the TPP is flawed because it won’t prevent
countries from competing unfairly by devaluing their currencies to
stimulate exports."Altman and Haass actually don't dispute that this is true, they just tell us the criticism is short-sighted.
So, I read this and begin to wonder what truth is and how we might recognize it. Why are these myths? Because the writer doesn't like the outcomes if they are true? Empirical studies show that trade agreements from NAFTA on have eroded manufacturing jobs in the US. How is that a myth? We don't know if the second myth is a myth because we don't know the text of the secret treaty. Does that make it a myth? And finally, how is the third a myth? I'm mythically confused.
It's interesting to look at the two sides of this trade agreement. Trade agreements always seem to make some people better off at the cost of others. Often the voices of those who are hurt by trade are heard less because it is generally unorganized groups like individual farmers or manufacturing workers up against corporations with large lobbying budgets. It's important that in agreements like this, both sides are considered, even though they may be represented unevenly. It's also important to be aware of an author's background and how they are affected by the agreement in order to put their argument in context. I think that it's likely that Altman and Haass's opinions on the TTP are affected by their personal interests in the partnership.
ReplyDelete