Friday, January 24, 2014

Should we accept the TIPP?

I've written a fair amount about the TransPacific Partnership (TPP) and not in glowing terms, particularly the secrecy in which it is being negotiated. It sounds like the need to keep things secret is part and parcel of trade agreements, as the negotiation of the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is also a big secret.

Like TPP, TTIP would be a blessing to corporations and anathema to those wanting their country's laws to be respected. If a company felt somehow financially disadvantaged or its interests otherwise trod upon, it would have the right to submit a challenge to a three-judge arbitration court,which would have the power to make rulings on huge damage payments if an investor believed its profits were reduced -- through a new national law, for example. 

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