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Tag Archives: Free Trade Agreements
JOHN MENADUE. Contracting out our foreign and defence policies -A REPOST from 2 February 2017)
The military and defence establishment and lobbies, both in Australia and the US are determining Australia’s foreign policy. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and her Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are sidelined. Locked into the US defence complex with … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs, Politics
Tagged China threat, dangerous ally, Defence White Paper, Free Trade Agreements, John Menadue, power of Defence establishments, Richard Woolcott, sidelining of DFAT, submarine purchase, US marines in Darwin, US-Australia alliance
7 Comments
IAN McAULEY. Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country 3 – Globalization takes the rap, unfairly
Globalization has been only one of the developments that has led to widening inequality and social exclusion. Countries that have globalized have also introduced a raft of neoliberal domestic policies, against which people are reacting.
Posted in Economy, Education, Environment and climate, Health, Industrial relations, International Affairs, Politics
Tagged Bretton Woods, Brexit-Trump series, European Union, fixed exchange rates, foreign ownership, Free Trade Agreements, globalisation, Gonski, Hawke-Keating government, Ian McAuley, IMF, Medicare, mixed economy, neoliberalism, technological change, World Bank, WTO
1 Comment
TIM HARCOURT. Three reasons free trade has become a political football.
Surveying democratic election results around the world, it’s clear the high water mark for globalisation has been met. Free trade, always questionable economics, is no longer good politics and in many ways has jumped the shark.
Posted in Economy, International Affairs, Politics
Tagged Donald Trump, Free Trade Agreements, protectionism, The Conversation, Tim Harcourt
Comments Off on TIM HARCOURT. Three reasons free trade has become a political football.
The election campaign’s other big lie: the Coalition hasn’t delivered ‘export agreements’.
Pearls and Irritations has carried many articles about the exaggerated claims for free trade agreements. That exaggeration continued during the election campaign. One of the five pillars of Malcolm Turnbull’s ‘plan for jobs and growth’ was the alleged benefits … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, International Affairs, Politics
Tagged Free Trade Agreements, Peter-Martin, rules of origin, SMH
1 Comment
John Menadue. Preferential trade deals – gigantic foundation stones or pebbles?
Malcolm Turnbull has described the TPP as a ‘gigantic foundation stone’ that will deliver ‘more jobs, absolutely’. The World Bank now tells us that the TPP will be more like a pebble than a foundation stone. See following article by … Continue reading
John Menadue. The government just does not get it on Free Trade Agreements.
I hope readers are not getting tired that I have said many times that the government continues to exaggerate the benefits of bilateral FTAs, most recently with Japan, Korea and China. With so little to show after two wasted years … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, International Affairs, Politics
Tagged AFR, Bill Carmichael, DFAT, Free Trade Agreements, Productivity Commission
Comments Off on John Menadue. The government just does not get it on Free Trade Agreements.
John Menadue. Slogans vs Facts.
In my post of 16 September, I referred to the continual exaggeration over the benefits of Free Trade Agreements. There has been quite a pattern of this type of exaggeration with slogans rather than facts. One example of slogans and … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, International Affairs, Politics
Tagged China Thailand, Free Trade Agreements, Mark McGovern, New Zealand, The Conversation, TPP, United States
1 Comment
The Exaggeration over Free Trade Agreements.
I have posted many blogs in the last couple of years concerning the Free Trade Agreements with the Republic of Korea, Japan and China. I have pointed out that the years of negotiation of these agreements occurred under the Rudd … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, International Affairs, Politics
Tagged Andrew Robb, Australia China FTA, Free Trade Agreements, John Howard, Peter-Martin, SMH
Comments Off on The Exaggeration over Free Trade Agreements.
John Menadue. Turnbull and Abbott
Bill Shorten aside, most Australians will welcome our new Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull. He offers a more rational, humane and consultative style of leadership. His main problem will be how to reconcile his own progressive views on such issues as … Continue reading
Posted in NBN, Politics
Tagged Bill Shorten, climate change, Free Trade Agreements, Julie Bishop, Malcolm Turnbull, National Broadband Network, Tony Abbott
1 Comment
John Menadue. The Senate saves the day on the Trans Pacific Partnership.
The Senate saves the day on the Trans Pacific Partnership. Often the Senate is seen as obstructive or worse. But it has performed a very useful purpose in helping to derail the Trans Pacific Partnership. Hopefully the TPP will not … Continue reading
Walter Hamilton. The guts of a Free Trade Agreement with Japan.
Dolphin-culling and free trade agreements represent opposite sides of the coin of the relationship between Australia and Japan. Both are currently in the news, with Sea Shepherd activists hounding the fishermen of Taiji (where the documentary ‘The Cove’ was filmed) … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs, Politics
Tagged Free Trade Agreements, Japan Agricultural Ministers, John Kerin, Sea Shepherd, Shinzo Abe, Taiji, Walter Hamilton
Comments Off on Walter Hamilton. The guts of a Free Trade Agreement with Japan.