Click here to view original web page at promarket.org
This thoughtful article by three European based economists in Promarket makes the case that the conventional narrative about free trade agreements is both simplistic and inaccurate. Worse, that far from improving market efficiency and competition, it favours a small sub-set of larger firms which can engage in massive lobbying efforts.
From a social commons perspective, this is neither good in creating diverse markets that offer increased consumer choice, nor in strengthening democracy and corporate accountability to local governments and sovereign states. – David Thornley
Lobbying on free trade agreements has been dominated by a few very large firms, which experience large gains as a result of the entry into force of these agreements. By contrast, losing firms have had no voice in the lobbying process, finding it too costly to be politically organized. Recent decades have seen a proliferation of regional trade agreements. […]
