WASHINGTON — In the early 2000s, after Michael Froman decamped from the Clinton Treasury Department for Wall Street, he called his old law school colleague Lori Wallach, now an anti-globalization activist, with an unusual proposal. [Reposted from The New York Times | Jonathan Weisman | April 27, 2015] Would she fly to Citigroup’s training center…
Imports surged in first quarter, depressing GDP growth. Bloomberg reports that exports are tepid in relation to imports, especially after the West Coast port labor dispute ended. The chart above is stark. Congressmen that represent districts with port cities often say – “we need free trade agreements to keep our ports busy.” And, they may…
Thirty one Democratic Congressmen sent a letter to President Obama listing demands for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The letter demands that TTIP exclude an investor-state dispute mechanism; that the deal preserve Buy American and other buy local provisions; that the U.S. and EU’s consumer, labor and environmental protections are not lowered through…
NEW YORK — In late 2013, Cisco chief executive John Chambers used a portentous phrase while telling analysts that sales in emerging markets were spiraling downward, forcing the networking equipment company to cut its three- to five-year revenue growth target: “We’re the canary in the coal mine.” [Jeffrey Rothfeder | April 25, 2015 |…
“It contains a misleading impression, not a lie. It was being economical with the truth.” Robert Armstrong The Ways and Means Committee blog promotes Fast Track passage and sometimes “stretches the truth”. One can, of course, just tell enough of the truth to leave a misleading impression. A recent Ways and Means blog post on…
President Obama went after Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Now Senators Brown and Warren have written Obama a letter saying “If it’s so good, let everyone see it.” He told reporters that critics are spreading misinformation, that the deal is not secret (ha, ha), and that Elizabeth Warren is wrong. Here is…
WASHINGTON — House and Senate committees this week easily agreed to give President Obama fast-track authority to negotiate a sweeping trade accord with Pacific nations, but the package of bills intended to speed completion of the deal also imposes difficult burdens on its negotiators. [by Jonathan Weisman | April 23, 2015 | NY Times]…
The outspoken businessman, who is known to start brawls on Twitter, sent out a series of tweets explaining his opposition. “The Trans-Pacific Partnership is an attack on America’s business. It does not stop Japan’s currency manipulation. This is a bad deal,” he said. [by Alanna Petroff | April 23, 2015 | CNN Money] The U.S.…
MSNBC host Ed Schultz excoriated President Barack Obama during his program Thursday evening, blasting the president over a joke he made about the opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership from some of the liberal cable network’s hosts. [by Oliver Darcy | April 23, 2015 | The Blaze] “If you were watching MSNBC and all this…
Regarding your editorial “Trade Poison Pill” (April 22) which criticizes any enforceable actions against other countries manipulating their currency to distort trade: My top priority is to find new ways to strengthen our economy and create more good-paying jobs for Ohio workers. [by Senator Rob Portman | April 23, 2015 |WSJ Opinion] I agree…
