Giving Compass' Take:

• David Korten argues that it is not a country that will benefit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but a class. The partnership will benefit the wealthiest individuals of the countries involved, not the working class. 

• What stakeholders need to be involved in shaping the partnership to ensure that workers are benefiting? How can the partnership be improved to serve low-income people in all involved countries? 

• Learn how global trade agreements impact local food markets


On April 12th, President Trump flipped his position on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, suggesting the U.S. might want to rejoin the pact.

Trump was right in his claim that trade agreements such as the TPP are bad for American workers. They are not written by or for workers. The key players in their negotiation are transnational corporations that are looking to increase their profits by guaranteeing their unimpeded access to cheap labor, resources, and consumer markets, and freedom from taxes and regulations.

Trump is convinced that other nations are not playing fair. There too he is right. But they are not playing to benefit their workers, either.

Chinese workers work long hours under often grueling and dangerous conditions. The pay is miniscule, and sometimes workers toil in conditions akin to modern slavery. The air in many major Chinese cities is dangerously polluted.

Adding insult to injury, few Chinese workers can afford to buy the products they make. These products are produced for the benefit of wealthier consumers, including those in the United States. Ironically, many Americans can only afford to buy cheaper Chinese goods, because their jobs have been eliminated by automation or shipped overseas to low-wage markets, including China.

According to Forbes, China now has more billionaires than the United States, and is creating two new ones every week.

Current trade agreements work great if the goal is to create new billionaires. They fail dismally if we assume their goal is to benefit working people—regardless of nationality.

Read the full article about Trans-Pacific Partnership by David Korten at YES! Magazine.