For decades now, presidents and Congresses of both big political parties have been pushing for “free trade” schemes that promise jobs and prosperity. But – when enacted – these schemes have actually produced the opposite.
For example, Democrat Bill Clinton pushed for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and expanding the World Trade Organization (WTO). Republican George W. Bush pushed for several “free trade schemes.” Democrat Barack Obama pushed Bush’s plans to completion, and Obama is pushing hard to complete the huge Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) involving a dozen Pacific Rim nations.
Mainstream politicians – and mainstream news media – simply assume that these “free trade” schemes are good and fail to adequately consider their serious problems.
The Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s June 2016 TV program does examine their problems. We expose the problems that politicians and main-stream news media have been refusing to deal with.
Instead of “free” trade we need “fair” trade – trade that really protects workers, consumers, environments, human rights, and democracy.
Our TV guest is Gillian Locascio, Director of the Washington Fair Trade Coalition, a statewide coalition that includes about 60 member organizations, including labor, environment, human rights, faith-based and many other kinds of community organizations. She is a real expert on the issue of “free trade,” and she provides solid in-formation and fascinating insights.
Gillian has a strong background in community development, Latin American environmental and economic realities, etc. She saw problems first-hand while working in Panama, and elsewhere. She is seeing many problems in recent and pending “free trade” deals. Her experience gave her an empirical basis for the knowledge and analysis she shared with us on TV.