From Murray Dobbin, Powell River, British Columbia, Canada
Dan Ariely and Vlad Chituc state that there is “virtual unanimity” amongst economists regarding the benefits of free trade (19 November 2016, p 21). But what of the views on particular “free trade” treaties held by economists and Jeffrey Sachs, Financial Times analyst , or former World Bank chief economist ? All have been extremely critical of these deals: as Sachs says, they “are mostly investor protection agreements…” They allow corporations to sue governments for any legislation or regulation that affects their profits.
The Canadian government's own Global Affairs department that the agreement would, if ratified, permanently increase the country's GDP by just 0.127 per cent, not until 2040. Maybe I misunderstand the concept of “net benefit” but I do have a good grasp of “net loss.”
