Krugman's thinking about TPP

[pscot]

May 17 3:46 pm May 17 3:46 pm 124

Trade and Trust

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I’m getting increasingly unhappy with the way the Obama administration is handling the dispute over TPP. I understand the case for the deal, and while I still lean negative I’m not one of those who believes that it would be an utter disaster.

But the administration — and the president himself — don’t help their position by being dismissive of the complaints and lecturing the critics (Elizabeth Warren in particular) about how they just have no idea what they’re talking about. That would not be a smart strategy even if the administration had its facts completely straight — and it doesn’t. Instead, assurances about what is and isn’t in the deal keep turning out to be untrue. We were assured that the dispute settlement procedure couldn’t be used to force changes in domestic laws; actually, it apparently could. We were told that TPP couldn’t be used to undermine financial reform; again, it appears that it could.

How important are these concerns? It’s hard to judge. But the administration is in effect saying trust us, then repeatedly bobbling questions about the deal in a way that undermines that very trust.
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/?_r=0

[DJ13]

1. I’m not one of those who believes that it would be an utter disaster.

We were assured that the dispute settlement procedure couldn’t be used to force changes in domestic laws; actually, it apparently could. We were told that TPP couldn’t be used to undermine financial reform; again, it appears that it could.

Either Krugman is blind, or he's ignoring the negatives because he's biased towards "free trade" agreements always being a good idea.

[pscot]

3. I don't know what to think

Krugman seems like an honest man, but no doubt he has his blind spots. .

[msongs]

2. next time you buy meat at the store and can't be told where it is from thank our "trade agreements"

[Hoyt]

4. American beef can be labelled just that, they can even put a big flag on it, no matter

what the laws say about foreign meats. Canada could too.

Then, you and I could refuse to buy without knowing origin. If enough consumers really care - which is questionable - countries will label their product and work to ensure its image.

I applaud the WTO for trying to avoid trade wars. Hopefully people will gauge the impact with some degree of intellect.

[Demeter]

5. That's precisely the problem

Dr. Krugman is pretty shallow once he gets outside his narrow expertise.

Why wouldn't he pay closer attention to this issue, which threatens our very existence as a sovereign nation? Is he waiting for TPTB to come clean and be truthful?