dagblog - Comments for "Panama Papers prove that Bernie is wrong about the US-Panama trade deal"

Thanks, OK, the link is fixed

CVille Dem — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 22:52:03 +0000

Thanks, OK, the link is fixed.

Trade deals aren't all bad or

CVille Dem — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 22:51:07 +0000

In reply to Panama Papers prove that Bernie is wrong about the US-Panama trade deal

Trade deals aren't all bad or all good. There are nuances, and compromises that come into play. Everyone would like the world to be the way they envision it. It just doesn't work out that way. Sometimes, even the best of people make mistakes. After all, I heard that to err is human...

link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-panama-papers-prove-mr-sande...

I did read it when it came

HSG — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 20:43:42 +0000

In reply to Did you read the WAPO

Thanks for asking CVille :-) I did read the editorial when it came out. It was interesting and counterintuitive. I looked closely at the arguments. Ultimately, it did not persuade me because Fred Hiatt (who edits the editorial page) failed to point to any language in the free trade agreement that addressed Panama's status as a tax shelter/money-laundering heaven which it remains. Also, I note that many experts say the reason more Americans don't avail themselves of Panamanian shell corporations is because an eased up regulatory scheme and lax enforcement here have made the US one of the easiest places to hide money. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-27/the-world-s-favorite-n...

I lean to the belief that the Panama Trade Deal coupled with lobbying from the big banks motivated the US to ease up on financial transparency laws. In other words, we are racing Panama to the bottom. http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/04/panama-papers-offshore-tax...

I am very skeptical of Hiatt's opinions. He has been an ardent free trader for years. It is therefore plausible he would look for reasons to defend the Panama deal against Sanders especially since Hiatt and the Post harbor strong antipathy towards the Vermonter.

It is also of interest that the Post's owner is noted libertarian/free trader Amazonian Jeff Bezos. Bezos of course is one of the richest men in the world in part because globalization/free trade allows him to purchase in bulk at ultra-low prices products manufactured by low wage third world laborers and therefore undercut competitors.

The link got lost. That

ocean-kat — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 20:23:20 +0000

In reply to Did you read the WAPO

The link got lost. That happens occasionally. I always check and if there's a software glitch I immediately click the edit button and redo. It never glitches twice. A little annoying but not a big deal.

Did you read the WAPO

CVille Dem — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 19:01:18 +0000

In reply to Since NAFTA, the trade deals

Did you read the WAPO editorial?

Since NAFTA, the trade deals

HSG — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 18:46:33 +0000

In reply to Trade deals aren't all bad or

Since NAFTA, the trade deals into which we've entered have been, if not uniformly bad, collectively devastating. http://www.epi.org/publication/unfair-trade-deals-lower-the-wages-of-u-s...