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Any sufficiently complicated trade regime is going to need dispute arbitration. If we don't like the way that arbitration is playing out for us, our elected rep

Any sufficiently complicated trade regime is going to need dispute arbitration. If we don't like the way that arbitration is playing out for us, our elected representatives are completely within their power to abridge or modify our agreements. This is complete misdirection: If every bit of ISDS were pulled from the draft negotiations, Sen. Warren would still oppose the pact because she comes from the protectionist wing of the party. Maybe we can get Al Gore to take a break from his climate change work and debate Sen. Warren as he did Ross Perot back in the day. God I miss free trade Democrats like Bill Clinton.

walterbell 12y ago
What's your take on WTO and WIPO, are they not suitable venues for international trade discussions?
- twoodfin 12y ago
  How would the WTO arbitrate an independent agreement? You'd endorse TPP if it were just part of the WTO process? I wish the Doha round had gone somewhere. But it didn't, so here we are.
  - walterbell 12y ago
    National legislatures have had decades and centuries to develop governance models. The WTO process, while much younger, has a longer track record and greater international investment (than TPP/TTIP) in public debate on issues related to international trade, governance, disputes. It would be helpful if trade agreements were documented like open-source projects which coordinate with larger upstream projects, while retaining private forks that are not accepted upstream now, but could become more relevant later. Is everything in TPP unacceptable to WTO, by definition? If TPP can negotiate 20 chapters independently, why can't WTO unbundle problematic issues to regional agreements? Governance and trade agreements that affect the lives of hundreds of millions of humans should not require all-or-nothing bundling. There is no shortage of paper or electrons to negotiate interoperable agreements which segment risk and goals.

walterbell 12y ago

What's your take on WTO and WIPO, are they not suitable venues for international trade discussions?

twoodfin 12y ago
How would the WTO arbitrate an independent agreement? You'd endorse TPP if it were just part of the WTO process? I wish the Doha round had gone somewhere. But it didn't, so here we are.
- walterbell 12y ago
  National legislatures have had decades and centuries to develop governance models. The WTO process, while much younger, has a longer track record and greater international investment (than TPP/TTIP) in public debate on issues related to international trade, governance, disputes. It would be helpful if trade agreements were documented like open-source projects which coordinate with larger upstream projects, while retaining private forks that are not accepted upstream now, but could become more relevant later. Is everything in TPP unacceptable to WTO, by definition? If TPP can negotiate 20 chapters independently, why can't WTO unbundle problematic issues to regional agreements? Governance and trade agreements that affect the lives of hundreds of millions of humans should not require all-or-nothing bundling. There is no shortage of paper or electrons to negotiate interoperable agreements which segment risk and goals.