2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumKrugman gets informed changes his mind about T.P.P.
So what I wonder is why the president is pushing the T.P.P. at all. The economic case is weak, at best, and his own party doesnt like it. Why waste time and political capital on this project?
My guess is that were looking at a combination of Beltway conventional wisdom Very Serious People always support entitlement cuts and trade deals and officials caught in a 1990s time warp, still living in the days when New Democrats tried to prove that they werent old-style liberals by going all in for globalization. Whatever the motivations, however, the push for T.P.P. seems almost weirdly out of touch with both economic and political reality.
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/03/krugman-gets-informed-changes-his-tune-tpp
pa28
(6,145 posts)His walkback was about as weak as his original column. Jeez. I like Krugman but this is embarrassing.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)" . . . . . . Meanwhile, opponents portray the T.P.P. as a huge plot, suggesting that it would destroy national sovereignty and transfer all the power to corporations. This, too, is hugely overblown.
Corporate interests would get somewhat more ability to seek legal recourse against government actions, but, no, the Obama administration isnt secretly bargaining away democracy. . . . . ."
JayhawkSD
(3,163 posts)...why give corporations, particularly international corporations, any more power in return for essentially nothing?
Jeff In Milwaukee
(13,992 posts)We change our mind based on facts and new information.
When was the last time someone on Fox News did the same?