Every so often the news cycle will return to the TPP and begin pondering whether it is good for Americans. Many on the left believe it is negative for Americans and for job growth here in the country, yet President Obama continues to say it is vital for the country to complete this agreement and continues to work hard on pushing it forward. Meanwhile a majority of congressional Republicans are actually with President Obama on this and are hoping to pass it when the details have all been hammered out. In order to gain a better idea about the TPP and what it means for average Americans, finance expert Dawn J Bennett invited Don Boudreaux, a senior fellow with F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the George Mason University's Mercatus Center, to come speak on her radio show.
Don Boudreaux recently published the article "The Benefits of Free Trade: Addressing Key Myths". Don's assertion is free trade is in fact good for Americans and that the belief of it destroying the American economy is mistaken and overblown. Dawn J Bennett asked if that means all the people saying "Buy American" because it creates jobs in America are wrong when they say buying from overseas will reduce jobs in America. Don explains that of course some jobs for manufacturing will move overseas because their manufacturing is cheaper. However those countries will then have that money and need to buy other products and will want to invest it and much of that will flow back into America, where it will create more jobs.
Another benefit Don says will come about from freer trade is a higher standard of living. When products are cheaper than they are now then Americans are able to purchase more. He explains that freer trade lets consumers spend their money more freely because they have more options and there are no longer tariffs in the way which create inefficiencies in the markets. He says the biggest problem with the Congressional Democrats right now is they've been beholden to the unions for such a long time and have always been against freer trade. This makes it difficult to reason with them.
Dawn J Bennett then inquired with Don Boudreaux why the negotiations for the TPP have remained so secretive for so long. His answer was quite straight forward and that was to keep the weekly political point scoring from becoming a major factor while trying to iron out the trade deal. If politicians are jumping in and making a fuss over every detail that is mentioned but before the deal is finalized then it would hamper progress and make it far more difficult to pass an effective deal. Don also believes this will actually reduce the influence that corporations have on the trade deal as opposed to having it out in the open. He says no matter how you conduct it there will be corporate influences, but the goal is to minimalize them.
Overall Don Boudreaux believes the trade deal is important to improving both Americans standard of living and those living in foreign countries. He says manufacturers here will also gain access to lower cost inputs which will equals greater profits for them and this can improve the wages of their workers.
Don Boudreaux recently published the article "The Benefits of Free Trade: Addressing Key Myths". Don's assertion is free trade is in fact good for Americans and that the belief of it destroying the American economy is mistaken and overblown. Dawn J Bennett asked if that means all the people saying "Buy American" because it creates jobs in America are wrong when they say buying from overseas will reduce jobs in America. Don explains that of course some jobs for manufacturing will move overseas because their manufacturing is cheaper. However those countries will then have that money and need to buy other products and will want to invest it and much of that will flow back into America, where it will create more jobs.
Another benefit Don says will come about from freer trade is a higher standard of living. When products are cheaper than they are now then Americans are able to purchase more. He explains that freer trade lets consumers spend their money more freely because they have more options and there are no longer tariffs in the way which create inefficiencies in the markets. He says the biggest problem with the Congressional Democrats right now is they've been beholden to the unions for such a long time and have always been against freer trade. This makes it difficult to reason with them.
Dawn J Bennett then inquired with Don Boudreaux why the negotiations for the TPP have remained so secretive for so long. His answer was quite straight forward and that was to keep the weekly political point scoring from becoming a major factor while trying to iron out the trade deal. If politicians are jumping in and making a fuss over every detail that is mentioned but before the deal is finalized then it would hamper progress and make it far more difficult to pass an effective deal. Don also believes this will actually reduce the influence that corporations have on the trade deal as opposed to having it out in the open. He says no matter how you conduct it there will be corporate influences, but the goal is to minimalize them.
Overall Don Boudreaux believes the trade deal is important to improving both Americans standard of living and those living in foreign countries. He says manufacturers here will also gain access to lower cost inputs which will equals greater profits for them and this can improve the wages of their workers.