The bicameral Joint Economic Committee (JEC) of the U.S. Congress stepped up Republican criticism of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) by including language in a formal report on the U.S. economy that blasts the deal as falling short of congressional demands in the areas of pharmaceutical intellectual property (IP) protection, financial services data flows and goods market access.…
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The effects on the U.S. economy caused by 30 years of offshore outsourcing of production and jobs is starting to drive major changes in the American political system. The rise of a “precariat” class of Americans — those who are living “precarious” lives — has created a populist movement that shows no sign of…
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There were, in retrospect, clear signs of what was to come—signs that if Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders did not appear on the scene, someone else like them would have. We’ve had decades of forewarnings as the top income earners —the “one percent”—began taking bigger shares of our economy starting in the 1980s: The…
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TRADE DEAL’S BENEFITS MAY BE EXAGGERATED The new Trans-Pacific Partnership may not deliver the benefits the government is claiming, says Peter Martin. [Peter Martin| March 3, 2016 | The Sydney Morning Herald] Hillary Clinton is misguided. Her opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership is based on “misinformation”. Malcolm Turnbull’s new trade minister says so. Within…
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The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries lacks an absolutely key component to keep it from doing potential damage to the U.S. economy. The missing piece of this trade and investment deal is a set of restrictions and/or enforceable penalties against member countries that engage in currency…
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On February 19th, the “Northern California Manufacturing Summit was held at the Hyatt Regency in Sacramento. The summit was co-hosted by the City of Sacramento, County of Placer, Gerdau, and the Coalition for a Prosperous America, with a long list of other regional businesses and associations as sponsors and partners. The purpose of the…
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A new study confirms what many activists have suspected for a long time: The private courts set up by international “trade” deals heavily favor billionaires and giant corporations, and they do so at the expense of governments and people. [Richard Eskow| March, 01 2016 |Campaign for America’s Future] Smaller companies and less-wealthy individuals don’t…
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The U.S. government should become more active in supporting our small and medium-sized manufacturers, or other countries will continue to develop their economies at our expense. [Paul Ericksen| February, 26 2016 |Industry Week] One of my recent columns (“How Best to Get Government Involved in your Business”) generated a response from reader “Toppers” who posed…
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China warned the United States on Wednesday not to adopt punitive currency policies that could disrupt U.S.-China relations after Donald Trump’s win in the Nevada caucus. [Bill Gertz| February, 24 2016 |Free Beacon] Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing that “we are following with interest the U.S. presidential election.” Hua was asked…
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Las Vegas: Donald Trump, the Republican presidential frontrunner, has added India to the list of countries that he believes is taking away jobs from the US and has pledged to bring those back if elected president. [Press Trusts of India| February, 24 2016 |NDTV] “What I did on June 16, we came out and we…
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