Loony right backs TPP trade deal (in Australia)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2015/04/loony-right-backs-tpp-trade-deal/

7:20 am on April 7, 2015 By Leith van Onselen

One of the key ring leaders for the ‘loony right’, The Australian’s Judith Sloan, has written an extraordinary attack on those of us who oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement – the US lead trade deal between 12 Pacific Rim nations, including Australia. In her typical vitriolic tone, Sloan labels opponents of the TPP as “ratbags” and “misinformed”, while completely glossing over the dangers:

One topic that attracts more ratbags making hysteric and misinformed comments than most is the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

…just mention the TPP and all the usual suspects release their pent-up hatred of the US, multinational companies, trade and capitalism…

The agreement simply has become shorthand for the many developments that the overexcited members of the Left despise, such as more jobs and higher incomes…

[The] real beneficiaries of trade agreements are consumers who can gain access to cheaper and better products and services…

Has Sloan been living under a rock? Going by the chapters that have been leaked via WikiLeaks, the TPP would establish a US-style regulatory structure that would hand considerable power to US pharmaceutical and digital firms, limiting choice and raising prices for consumers in Australia.

The leaked draft of the intellectual property chapter included a “Christmas wishlist” for pharmaceutical companies, including the proposal to extend patent protection and strengthen monopolies on clinical data. Most worryingly, the US is seeking patents for “new forms” of known substances, as well as on new uses for old medicines – a proposal which could lead to “evergreening”, whereby patents can be renewed continuously, forcing-up Australian consumers’ (and taxpayers’) pharmaceutical costs via reduced access to cheaper generic drugs and reduced rights for the Government to regulate medicine prices. Such a move also risks stifling innovation in the event that patent terms are extended too far.

The US has also sought to prevent circumvention of technology that restricts products to certain regions – a move that would hand greater power to US content creators and push-up prices for consumers.

FULL story at link.

[ronnie624]

1. "higher incomes"

Wingnuts are stupid, almost beyond belief. It's pretty obvious that one of the main goals of the TPP is to eliminate labor regulations and drive down wages for the sake of corporate profits.

[Populist_Prole]

2. Yeah really

"The agreement simply has become shorthand for the many developments that the overexcited members of the Left despise, such as more jobs and higher incomes… "

That is a howler.

That level of sophistry would make most corporate shills blush.

As if corporations actually wanted higher incomes and more jobs. They couldn't care less about any agreement that wouldn't allow labor arbitrage.