So-called 'free trade' agreements are continually advertised as creators of jobs, yet jobs are lost and wages decline once they go into effect.
As representatives of the 12 countries participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership gather today in New Zealand to sign the agreement, the usual unsubstantiated claims are being put forth.
Why is this so? I mean beyond the obvious answer that such claims are propaganda in the service of corporate elites and financiers.
Corporate-funded 'think tanks' that pump out a steady barrage of papers making grandiose claims for 'free trade' deals that are relied on by the political leaders who push these deals require some data, no matter how massaged.
One organization prominent in this process is the Peterson Institute for International Economics, which has issued rosy reports in expectation of deals like the North America Free Trade Agreement - for example, it predicted 170,000 new jobs would be created in the US alone in 1995 and that the Mexican economy would grow by four to five percent annually under NAFTA.
A pocketful of mumbles
One way to look at this is that the Peterson Institute is to 'free trade' agreements as the Heartland Institute is to global warming. Heartland began as a Big Tobacco outfit issuing reports denying links between smoking and cancer.
As late as 1998, Heartland President Joe Bast claimed that there were "few, if any, adverse health effects" associated with smoking and boasted to a Phillip Morris executive that "Heartland does many things that benefit Philip Morris's bottom line, things that no other organization does."
Heartland later began specializing in global-warming denial, receiving $676,500 from Exxon Mobil alone between 1996 and 2006; after which it stopped identifying its contributors. Mr. Bast seems to have no shame, writing that "Most scientists do not believe human activities threaten to disrupt the Earth's climate" in an article describing global warming as a "scam". In fact, 97% of climate scientists agree that human activity is behind global warming.
Comment: There are some serious questions surrounding the 'whole man made' global warming issue. Read the following articles for more information:
- Global Warming Caused by Cosmic Rays and the Sun - Not Humans
- A glimmer of truth emerges: More scientists challenge the hoax of global 'warming'
- Global Warming is not due to human contribution of Carbon Dioxide - The Cold, Hard Facts?
- Two New Books Confirm Global Warming is Natural; Not Caused By Human Activity
It is this same attitude toward the truth that pervades papers predicting wondrous results from 'free trade' agreements. In contrast to the Peterson Institute's rosy projections, the first 20 years of NAFTA proved to be a lose-lose-lose proposition for Canada, Mexico and the United States:
- Almost 5 million Mexican farmers have been displaced with inflation-adjusted wages in Mexico barely above the level of 1980;
- US food prices have risen 67% since NAFTA took effect and two-thirds of displaced manufacturing workers in the US have been forced to take work with reduced wages;
- and Canadians suffered drastic cuts in government benefits while their environmental laws were reversed in the wake of corporate challenges.
The Peterson Institute is at it again, first claiming the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will result in gains of US$1.9 trillion, and in a new report once again making extravagant claims even if scaled back. In its latest report, the Institute claims there will be no net job losses, while annual income in the US would increase by $131 billion.
These sorts of predictions are routine, and not the product of any single corporate organization. How is it that, all actual experience to the contrary, these sorts of calculations are presented with a straight face?
The political economist Martin Hart-Landsberg, in his book Capitalist Globalization: Consequences, Resistance, and Alternatives, writes that economic models that presume wondrous benefits from 'free trade' agreements assume, inter alia:
- There are only two inputs, capital and labor, which are able to move instantaneously but never cross national borders.
- Total aggregate expenditures in each economy will be sufficient, and automatically adjust, to ensure full use of all resources.
- Flexible exchange rates will prevent lowered tariffs from causing changes in trade balances.
"this kind of modeling assumes a world in which liberalization cannot, by assumption, cause or worsen unemployment, capital flight or trade imbalances. Thanks to these assumptions, if a country drops its trade restrictions, market forces will quickly and effortlessly lead capital and labor to shift into new, more productive uses."Given the strong biases in favor of 'free trade' agreements, all the more skeptical of the TPP we may be when we see the tiny gains forecast by the World Bank. Vietnam is expected to see the biggest boost among the 12 TPP countries, according to the World Bank forecast - a 10% gain in gross domestic product cumulative through 2030. In other words, less than one percent per year. As a TechDirt summation of this report noted:
"And since trade always remains in balance, this restructuring will generate a dollar's worth of new exports for every dollar of new imports. Given these assumptions, it is no wonder that mainstream economic studies always produce results supporting ratification of free trade agreements."
"So according to the World Bank's figures, the US will gain an extra 0.04% GDP per year on average, as a result of TPP; Australia an extra 0.07% annually, and Canada a boost of 0.12% per year."If this is the best that promoters of corporate hegemony can come up with for the TPP, its likely effect will surely be dismal.
The vanishing 'gains'
Jane Kelsey, a New Zealand law professor who has long sounded the alarm on the TPP, notes that even the slightly larger gain forecast for that country would actually constitute a statistical blip that may or may not actually exist. She writes:
"[The] National [government]'s glitzy new 'TPP fact' page is bad wine repackaged in new bottles. Here's a few facts they don't tell you. The projected economic gains of 0.9% of GDP by 2030 are within their own margin of error, even before costs are factored in and disregarding unrealistic modeling."A more balanced investigation conducted by Tufts University researchers Jeronim Capaldo and Alex Izurieta led to the conclusion that the TPP, if enacted, would result in the loss of three-quarters of a million jobs through 2025, including 448,000 jobs to be lost in the US alone. Canada, Mexico, Japan and Australia would each suffer jobs losses in the tens of thousands. The Tufts report concludes:
"The TPP would lead to higher inequality, with a lower labor share of national income. We expect competitive pressures on labor incomes, combined with employment losses, to push labor shares of national income further down, redistributing income from labor to capital in all countries. In the USA, this would exacerbate a multi-decade trend."Working people in the 11 other TPP countries would get to experience the stagnant wages and declining living standards that United Statesians have been treated to during the past three decades.
More than 330,000 manufacturing jobs are expected to be lost in the US alone if TPP is passed, according to a separate calculation by the United Steelworkers, and Unifor estimates that 20,000 Canadian jobs in auto manufacturing alone are at risk.
If no gain, there will be pain for you
Underlying all this further tilting of the scales already heavily weighted toward corporate money and power is the 'investor-state dispute settlement' provision, whereby multi-national corporations can sue governments to overturn laws and regulations they don't like under the excuse that measures to protect safety, health or the environment constitute a 'taking' of their expected profits - not even actual profits.
The secret tribunal that will hear corporate complaints (the same as the one used under NAFTA) must assume the corporation's claim is true under some circumstances.
Canada, because it has higher standards than do the US or Mexico, is most frequently sued under NAFTA, although the Canadian pipeline company TransCanada has committed the latest outrage, suing the US government for $15 billion because the Obama administration declined to permit the Keystone XL pipeline. TransCanada is suing for $15 billion even though it has spent $2.4 billion on the pipeline.
Although the governments of the 12 TPP countries are 'signing' the agreement today, that is a formality: The deal must still be approved by legislatures and implementing legal changes enacted.
The TPP would enter into force 60 days after all 12 signatories ratify it or, if that doesn't happen within two years, in April 2018 if at least six of the 12 countries accounting for 85% of the combined gross domestic product of the original signatories have ratified the agreement. That 85% can't be reached without both the US and Japan, effectively giving those countries a veto and thus placing extra responsibility on opponents in both those countries.
The TPP, even more so that previous deals, has very little to do with trade and much to do with solidifying corporate control over life, arguably the most significant erosion of what is left of formal democracy yet. Regardless of where you live, the TPP can be defeated if we continue to organize.
And once the TPP is sent to the trash heap, it will be time to go on the offensive to roll back existing trade pacts.
About the author
Pete Dolack is an activist, writer, poet and photographer, and writes on Systemic Disorder. His forthcoming book 'It's Not Over: Lessons from the Socialist Experiment', a study of attempts to create societies on a basis other than capitalism, will be published by Zero Books in February 2016.
Reader Comments
TPP & ISDS; An Opportunity for Citizens to Sue Global Corporate Economy & their Governments, or, The Death of Democracy & Sovereignty?
Is ‘The Submission’ to The Supreme Court of Canada, et al, ‘unnecessarily’ delaying the TPP, CETA, et al?
* Did Canada ‘forget’ to tell TPP Trade Partners & their citizens Liable for Compensation in The W.A.D. Accord?
* What happened to new Canadian PM Trudeau’s (Corporate Canada East) promise to read, understand, share his understanding of TPP with consultation & questions from the taxpayers? Have Trudeau & Freeland even read the TPP?
* But, Under what Circumstances would Native Canadians consider helping non-Native Canadians, et al, to Co-Sue the Federal Government & Corporate Canada, et al, for Deprivation of Due Diligence Info, besides Ending the ‘Designer Racism’ & other considerations?
The Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) is a double edged sword; that is...depending upon how one looks at it. That is to say that some have suggested that the ISDS & the global corporate treaties/'arrangements' is a death sentence for democracy & the sovereignty of nations, while others look at it as an opportunity to challenge, learn, clarify, modify, re-interpret, &/or, reject the treaties/'arrangements' based upon the grounds that they are un-ethical, immoral, &/or, legally unconscionable.
However, one of the problems of ISDS is due to the fact that there is, as of yet, no tried & acceptable 'official' means whereby the harmless citizens of the European Union & non-Native Canadians, et al, can sue the government of Canada (or, their EU governments), or Corporate Canada/European Union for throwing in their, the governments', support with, & for, Corporate Canada & its global corporate associates at the expense of the harmless taxpayers without recourse & appeals.
And, while it may be regrettable that the harmless Canadians taxpayers have been conditioned, &/or, lead to be believe, that 'their opposing' political parties & 'their' sine cure senate (ie. upper house) has protected them & will continue to protect them from litigious economic bullies & enemies, both; foreign & domestic, they, the 'harmless' citizens, are continuing to be told that it is the nature of 'their' true democracy(ies) that by voting with an informed opinion for the party of 'their choice', they, the citizens of Canada, et al, are exercising their right to let their politicians make informed choices on their, the harmless voters', behalf.
Clearly, the governments of Canada, the European Union, et al, have put themselves in the position, &/or, are preparing to put themselves in the position, of a conflict of interest by siding with the associates of the global corporate economy, and thus, the governments have made themselves unable to defend the rights of their citizens in matters concerning the aforementioned corporations and, the government itself. And, therefore, can a reasonable person conclude that the governments are succeeding in putting themselves & the global corporations above the laws of its citizens & into the hands of their own courts/tribunals (ie. the 'Death-Star-Chamber') where the only guilty parties, their citizens, have been predetermined by way of the agreements (ie. the treaties/'arrangements') prior to the ISDS tribunals' 'litigations'?
The problem seems to be that Canadians & the citizens of the EU, et al, may be just unaccustomed to, &/or, unaware of how to challenge/confront
'their' governments in a manner similar to which Native Canadians have, &, are continuing to utilize, very successfully. The successful challenges of the Canadian government's laws continues to demonstrate the basic unfairness of decisions that are un-ethical, immoral, &/or, only marginally legal, etc. And, by failing to challenge these laws, &/or, those that are intended to render laws 'unappeal-able', it enables Corporate Canada & its global associates to further their control of the due diligence information & to close the access door to Corporate Canada's power & the power of its global corporate associates.
In conclusion, here are 5 important points for the citizens of Canada & the EU, et al, to consider regarding the treaties/'arrangements' that they may feel have been, or, are being, foisted upon them;
…Cont’d; DEHS…
1) under what circumstances would Native Canadians consider co-suing the government of Canada & Corporate Canada with the citizens of the EU, non-Native citizens of Canada, et al, regarding the lack of consultation & the deprivation of the due diligence information (eg. The Compensation in The W.A.D. Accord) by the Canadian government, et al?
2) A) in order to level the playing field between:
the citizens of Canada, the EU, et al,
and
Corporate Canada & Corporate EU,
how much of your tax dollars (ie. as a tax deduction) do you deem necessary to put towards the suing of the government of Canada, et al, & Corporate Canada, et al, as per 'The Submission' to The SUPREME COURT of CANADA:
‘The SHAREHOLDERS & Corporations of AMERICA, China, Canada, the EU, the Trans -Pacific nations, et al
v.
the (harmless) Canadian NON-shareholders, both; Native & non Native, et al’
&
'The MERKEL (Chancellor of Germany) Letter; To Sue, or, To be Sued'?
&/or,
2) B) who would you prefer to have as the litigation funder* of the suit (see the aforementioned 'Submission') against the primary beneficiaries of the Canada-EU CETAgreement by the harmless citizens?
3) what constitutes a 'good corporate citizen' in the context of those corporations which are trying to dump their liabilities onto the 'harmless'
citizens (ie. tort abolishment lead by U.S. corporations) of the sovereign nations that the corporations would like to operate in?
4) what constitutes a 'fair' treaty, or, agreement for the citizens that host the 'good corporate citizens', ie. would it be preferable for the citizens of the signatory treaties/'arrangements' if the disputing corporations would only be able to sue each other in the open courts of the sovereign nations that they would like to operate in
&
where the parties in a dispute have the responsibility for finding and presenting evidence particularly if the evidence exposes some of the unethical, &/or, illegal practices/'arrangements' that exist in the inter-relationships between the Corporations that are presently based in Canada, their lobbyists, the executives of the parties & 'our' politicians, et al?
and
5) the harmless citizens of Canada & the EU might seriously consider asking the new PM of Canada, Justin Trudeau & the president of the Liberal Party, Anna Gainey, have they even read the CETA & the other Global Corporate Treaties/’Arrangements’ and whether he understands it (competency) & is Trudeau willing to answer the taxpayers’ humble questions (sincerity) after ‘we’, the citizens, have had an opportunity to understand its financial significance to our families’ incomes with the assistance of our trade/economic lawyers?
That is to say, the citizens of the signatory nations might consider asking whether 'their' politicians should have to sully their ‘beliefs’ & sales pitches with ‘sordid’ facts that come from actually reading & understanding global treaties/’arrangements’?
Regardless, what happened to the new Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau's (Corporate Canada East) promises to read, understand, share his understanding of TPP with consultation & questions from the citizens of Canada regarding the treaties, both; 'domestic' (ie. First Nations) & foreign (ie. global corporate) especially about how Native & non-Natives Canadians to pay much more for Corporate Canada’s liabilities by reducing transfer payments, services for health (more exacerbation toward privatization) & education, et al?
By way of closing, I look forward to reading about the readers' thoughts, questions, feelings, improvements, etc. regarding the above. For more information regarding the basis for the aforementioned co-suing of the relevant governments & associates of the global corporate economy, I can be contacted at davidehsmith.wordpress.com
David E.H. Smith
- Researcher
- 'Qui tam...'
* litigation funder; Who is the 'coveted' foreign investor who said:
It's not that we are racist in our dealings with Canadians, it's just that we can't stand the way that you suck-up to us.
***
To access 'The MERKEL Letter' & Excerpts of 'The Submission’, see; davidehsmith.wordpress.com ***
For the FULL ‘Submission’, see; The SUPREME COURT of CANADA.
***
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