MORE FROM HUFFPOST
MORE FROM HUFFPOST
trade agreements
As long as there's been trade, there's been imbalanced trade, as countries invariably produce more than they consume, i.e., they're run a trade surplus, while others, like us, will do the opposite. To somehow insist on balanced trade for all would be a huge policy mistake.
Despite major differences, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders sounded some similar notes on policy.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
WHAT'S HAPPENING
The prospect of a President Trump makes it even more urgent to pass the TPP in 2016, a senior White House official says.
The United States is likely to raise these concerns in future agreements such as the Bilateral Investment Treaty, which it was negotiating with China before discussions between the two countries were put on hold.
Capitalism is also hampered by its own inherent limitations as an economic system rooted in competition. Competition creates losers for winners; the true trickle-down effect that decades of data is now beginning to validate. Competition divides -- always.
With these four new trump cards on the table, the odds against fast-track get better -- and almost certainly the next Presidential election will put the candidates of both parties to the test. Trade diplomacy's House of Cards looks ever shakier -- even if it doesn't topple in the next few months.
It is a dark secret that tobacco companies make more use of these agreements than perhaps any other industry. There have been at least thirty trade and investment cases brought on behalf of big tobacco. The TPP will spur more.
