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Can somebody ELI5 the whole TPP thing? As an European should I be concerned? Does it matter only to countries involved?
It is basically TTP, but involves Europe instead of East Asia and Australia.
Can somebody ELI5 the whole TPP thing? As an European should I be concerned? Does it matter only to countries involved?
The TPP is a wholesome beneficial legislation, orchestrated by businesses around the world to ensure their continued profits and ownership of capital creation, such as copyright (it will be harder to share content online without paying for it and DMCA youtube takedown style action will increase.) Furthermore it allows corporations to legally prosecute governments for getting in the way of their hard-earned profits or…
For a harbinger of what's to come, look into what's happening in Romania with their Rosia Montana gold mine. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-09-11/paulson-ba... http://www.miningfacts.org/Blog/Mining-News/Canadian-Miner-P... Basically a Canadian company will most likely sue the Romanian government for refusing to allow an open pit gold mine. They won't do this in a Romanian court. Just like we saw with Gr…
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The TPP is a wholesome beneficial legislation, orchestrated by businesses around the world to ensure their continued profits and ownership of capital creation, such as copyright (it will be harder to share content online without paying for it and DMCA youtube takedown style action will increase.) Furthermore it allows corporations to legally prosecute governments for getting in the way of their hard-earned profits or…
I hope this is sarcasm because otherwise it is ridiculously short-sighted and naive.
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Sure, but even if it's not all TPP related - that is a truckload of money. I have no idea what you even spend that amount of money on - it would buy a lot of champagne and hookers for representatives.
Not only is it not all TPP related, it is mostly not TPP related. They cited the aggregate lobbying of all the (gigantic) members of a trade coalition, and that statistic is misleading. The "champagne and hookers" snark is silly. Where do hundreds of millions of dollars in lobbying fees go? Approximately the same place as the hundreds of millions of dollars of donations to giant institutional charities go: * Salaries…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3174689/Lord-Snorty-...
How ignorant of human nature can someone be?
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"Free Trade" is like "Frictionless Wheel". It's trivially easy to talk about and is simple in theory, but in practice they both involve a lot of messy engineering. For example, free trade in mayonnaise. That should just mean that anyone can import/export mayonnaise right? Well, no. Mayonnaise is food so there's certain health standards and facility inspection regimes. And you and I have different ones now they need t…
> And you and I have different ones now they need to be harmonized. Hum... No. Not at all. A company is perfectly capable of making mayo for different health requirements. There are a few cases where harmonization is needed (mostly between small and poor countries), but overall "harmonizing" laws is just a propaganda presentation of giving exorbitant benefits for an external company that is bribing your government.
As always, it is not as simple as it initially appears.
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Is the fact that the talks are in a "Luxury Hotel" pertinent? The article doesn't explain how. Would the EFF be happier if the the "Secret TPP Talks Continue at a Reasonably Priced Motel as the Deal Grows More Controversial" Clearly the EFF doesn't like the process; but this phrasing is a cheap shot that distracts from the very important message. It's also one they've used a few times. https://www.eff.org/search/site…
Of course it's pertinent. It tells the whole story. The TPP is being negotiated exclusively by the hyper-wealthy private capitalist elite who have no connection or concern for the well-being of the vast majority of citizens. These people live in a different world than most of the readers of any newspaper or magazine. The accommodations hammer this fact home. To not mention this would whitewash the story in favor of t…
False. It's being negotiated by government bureaucrats. They may be doing it on behalf of "the hyper-wealthy private capitalist elite", but it's not the same people.
And of course, government bureaucrats like to stay in a luxury hotel on the government's dime.
Planet money had a fascinating podcast on how trade deals are made with the example of NAFTA. http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/06/26/417851577/episo...