The TPP's not about "trade"; it's about corporate power.
This is from a group of academics meeting in Durham, NC, to make plans against the TPP. Thought some of you might like to read this. It is the off-line (away from courts) dispute settlement process that seems scariest, not to mention loss of US jobs and control over Internet and environment.
PS, to get on their listserv email Betsy Crites [bcrites@sonic.net].
The article with cogent arguments against the TPP just came out in this month's Dollars and Sense magazine at: http://www.dollarsandsense.org/...
Writes one group member: For a mere two pages this article packs a lot of punch in the form of verifiable information -- so much, and so far from the usual blather of economists, that there's no substitute for reading the article itself. Some points could benefit from a little expansion, and there are important connections that may not be obvious even to the "average" well-informed reader.
Dollars and Sense is one of the best sources for people trying to make sense of the nonsense that is classical-tradition economics. It does presume at least some familiarity with some of the terminology and concepts, but less than most useful sources, and usually with enough context that a little effort and experience makes the meaning clear. In the file system on my computer I have areas for "economics" and areas for "REAL economics," and D&S is in the latter. It is one of a number of publications by a group of prominent heterodox economists who reject the classical dogma in varying respects and degrees. The major articles are available online, but the short commentaries, some of which contain the most important information, is available only in the print edition. Bi-monthly, $40 for two years.
Here's more on the TPP from David Segal, DemandProgress.org [info@demandprogress.org] below the squiggle.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement could be finalized as soon, and it's going to take a major last-minute push to stop it.
Right now, corporate lobbyists and government officials are meeting behind closed doors in Hawaii to hammer out the final details of this massive corporate trade deal.
They've set a goal of finalizing the TPP by the end of the day Saturday—yet not one word of the agreement or the negotiations has been made public.
Hundreds of thousands of Demand Progress members have weighed in against the TPP, and we're pushing hard to stop this massive corporate giveaway.
The reason the TPP is being written in secret is because they know if the public knew the truth, there would be a huge corporate backlash.
Thanks to leaks by courageous whistle-blowers, we do know some of the details.1 And it's not pretty.
Draft versions of the TPP would:
* Allow corporations to sue sovereign governments to overturn democratically enacted protections for the environment and consumers.
* Sneak in SOPA-like attacks on Internet freedom.
* Overturn protections against Wall Street recklessness.
* Reduce penalties on human trafficking.2
That's why the TPP is being called "NAFTA on steroids."
Thanks for standing with us.
David Segal
Demand Progress
Chip in $5 http://act.demandprogress.org/...
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Sources:
1. Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): Job Loss, Lower Wages and Higher Drug Prices,http://act.demandprogress.org/... Public Citizen, accessed July 28, 2015
2. TPP Reduces Human Trafficking and Child Labor to Misdemeanors,http://act.demandprogress.org/... Huffington Post, June 1, 2015