General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Obama talks TPP on Hardball. Thoughts? [View all]Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)Which almost always means in third world countries. Trade deals are great if you've got the cheapest labour or want to BE the cheapest labour. The whole point of trade deals is to rip out any barriers that prevent companies from manufacturing or selling as cheaply as possible. And that means the long-term destruction of middle classes the world over. Sure there will be some short term whack-a-mole job creation here and there, but it will disappear again as soon as it becomes cheaper to manufacture in some other country in the agreement. It's a perpetual cycle of chasing ever smaller costs of production and ever cheaper labour, until everyone, everywhere who isn't in the capital class is working in poverty.
Quite frankly, I'd far rather be 'left behind' then join in the race to starvation wages for Americans. We'd do better to start raising trade barriers again, manufacturing everything domestically, and become self-sufficient as a country even if it meant everything cost more. At least at that point, we wouldn't be competing with 25 cent a day labourers elsewhere in the world.