Bill Watson on the Bizarre Priorities of Trans-Pacific Partnership Proponents
(ota_photos / photo on flickr)
If the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations ever conclude, the agreement will bring major benefits to the economies of 12 Pacific Rim countries, including the United States. It will do this by removing trade barriers that impede economic growth and globalization. Strangely, you wouldn't know it from listening to the TPP's most powerful supporters. There are some great and simple arguments for free trade. Free trade improves quality of life for all Americans by making the things we buy less expensive. But as trade policy analyst Bill Watson notes, TPP supporters constantly focus on the narrow benefits the agreement will bring to special interests.