Despite his inspirational speeches about helping the middle class, President Obama is poised to outsource more well-paying American jobs and irretrievably subvert our democracy and national sovereignty to corporate interests, by ramming through the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Free Trade Agreement. Even scarier, our Congress is poised to give him the right to do so, if…
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) on Thursday accused the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) of “baffling” Democrats “with bullshit” in an effort to advance President Obama’s trade agenda. [Reposted from The Hill | Kevin Cirilli | March 19, 2015] Pocan’s remarks, which were triggered by a debate over whether the U.S. enjoys a trade surplus with…
A trade association linked to the conservative billionaires Charles G. and David H. Koch will begin a new lobbying effort pressuring lawmakers to shut down the Export-Import Bank, a top target of conservative activists and outside groups that will cease to exist after June 30 if it is not reauthorized by Congress. [Reposted from The…
Bidness Etc looks at why AK Steel stock can be expected to remain in the red on Friday, following the downward revision of 1Q guidance [Reposted from Bidness, Etc. | Michael Kaufman | March 20, 2015] On Thursday, AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE:AKS) released guidance for the first quarter of fiscal year 2015 (1QFY15),…
One aspect of the trade and global governance deals is that other countries, and global courts, tell the US what we can and cannot do. The New Zealand trade minister has now “ramped up the pressure on the U.S. Congress to pass a [fast track] Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill, saying the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)…
The Bureau of Economic Analysis released its 4th Quarter Report on international transactions. Here is an excerpt showing how goods exports decreased and the trade deficit worsened. Goods and services The deficit on goods and services increased to $127.0 billion in the fourth quarter from$123.9 billion in the third quarter. Goods The…
Unfair trade deals have lowered the wages of U.S. workers by displacing jobs and weakening the bargaining position of low- and middle-wage workers. President Obama and his predecessors have frequently claimed that free trade agreements (FTAs) and other trade deals would lead to growing exports and domestic job creation. [Reposted from the blog of the…
Boeing’s CEO joined Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker in a frenzy of negligent economics continuing the export-only lie that the Administration relies upon to justify continued 1900’s trade deals that appease foreign mercantilism and encourage domestic de-industrialization. Boeing grew from government contracts and significant government help in pushing domestic and oversees military and civilian aircraft sales.…
I was in DC yesterday, giving a talk to the National Association of Business Economists. The subject was the Trans-Pacific Partnership; slides for my talk are here. [Reposted from The New York Times | Paul Krugman | March 11, 2015] Email Share Tweet Save More This story is included with an NYT Opinion subscription.Learn more…
Will China be the next global superpower? Is the US just okay with that? News reports say that Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy are joining the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which is a rival to the US-led World Bank in DC. It caused me to remember CPA Senior Economist Greg Autry’s presentation in…
