Political Corruption and the “Free Trade” Racket
Political Corruption and the “Free Trade” Racket
By Dean Baker | April 30, 2013
In polite circles in the United States’ support for free trade is a bit like proper bathing habits. It is taken for granted. Only the hopelessly crude and unwashed would not support free trade.
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And it certainly doesn’t mean that the country will benefit from everything that those in power label as “free trade.” That is the story we are seeing now as the Obama administration is pursuing two major “free trade” agreements that in fact have very little to do with free trade and are likely to hurt those without the money and power to be part of the game.
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Rather, these deals are about securing regulatory gains for major corporate interests. In some cases, such as increased patent and copyright protection, these deals are 180 degrees at odds with free trade. They are about increasing protectionist barriers.
All the arguments that trade economists make against tariffs and quotas apply to patent and copyright protection. The main difference is the order of magnitude. Tariffs and quotas might raise the price of various items by 20 or 30 percent. By contrast, patent and copyright protection is likely to raise the price of protected items 2,000 percent or even 20,000 percent above the free market price. Drugs that would sell for a few dollars per prescription in a free market would sell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars when the government gives a drug company a patent monopoly.
In the case of drug patents, the costs go beyond just dollars and cents. Higher drug prices will have a direct impact on the public’s health, especially in some of the poorer countries that might end up being parties to these agreements.
More at link: http://blog.ourfuture.org/20130430/political-corruption-and-the-free-trade-racket
We must get the word out (and increase the understanding) that what the US does in the name of "free trade" is not free trade. It is locking into treaty form a set of policy prescriptions (i.e., neoliberal, de-regulatory & pro-corporate policies) that are currently in vogue. This approach to trade benefits the 1% by design and anyone else only accidentally, if at all. Being pro-"free trade" does not make us enlightened. It makes unwitting tools of the 1%.
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With apologies to George Orwell! 
