Posted on 06/14/2015 10:52:20 AM PDT by fortheDeclaration
Brendan Nyhan at The New York Times seems to be under the impression that the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) has something to do with free trade. Nyhan writes that the TPP
is the latest step in a decades-long trend toward liberalizing trade — a somewhat mysterious development given that many Americans are skeptical of freer trade.
But Americans with higher incomes are not so skeptical. They — along with businesses and interest groups that tend to be affiliated with them — are much more likely to support trade liberalization....
As Henry Hazlitt wrote with exasperation in Economics in One Lesson, “popular thought ... in everything connected to international relations, [has] not yet caught up with Adam Smith ...”
Nyhan is apparently deeply confused, however, since he equates the Trans Pacific Partnership with “trade liberalization.” In fact, the TPP is not about any type of liberalization, but is about centralizing political power. The TPP will further transfer the negotiation and implementation of trade policy into the hands of a small number of global regulators and bureaucrats, while further reducing the prerogatives of Congress and state legislators in the US. Indeed, citizens of all twelve member nations of the TPP will see trade policy become more remote and unknowable thanks to the TPP. And, since trade is but one small part of the agreement, we can expect a further shift toward opaque and authoritarian global decision making on everything from environmental policy to the internet to immigration.
(Excerpt) Read more at mises.org ...
First things first, we need a much better process than TPA.
Acual “free trade” does not exist in the world.
We need to look out for America for a change.
We do not even have free trade within the US. There are groups that have advantages who can ignore the laws everyone else must obey. There are also groups specifically targeted by laws.
Thank you for posting this.
A damn shame this thread doesn’t evoke much discussion....it is a good article and worth attention.
Wouldn’t looking out for America include the freedom to buy from anywhere and anyone I choose for a good or service?
The primary exception, in my opinion, would be for the government to enforce a law that prohibits the employment of illegal aliens.
Thank you!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.