Oh what a tangled web we weave when we practicce to deceive.
perma.cc/BB3B-M44U GATS and Public Service Systems (This is a very important concept in GATS we all need to know- determining what gets privatized and globalized (things that cost anybody money) and what doesnt (core government functions like the government itself)
perma.cc/FX35-6M33 US Health Care Reform and the WTO GATS- Conflict.
The last article, by the late single payer activist Nick Skala, also offers a suggestion that might solve some of the problems presented by GATS and other, more recent progeny for our healthcare sector, which is threatened by lock in.
That suggestion is at the end- carve outs. This also applies to TISA whose negotiations are winding up right now. We need carve outs in there, now.
Please save it and when you have a moment, hopefully soon, read it carefully. Every moment counts. Call your friends and tell them we need carve outs or public healthcare and education will be made impossible forever, or until the system or more likely we , break.
I have not seen a single economic analysis of this change (and Ive seen what seems like dozens, a typical example is below-) that predicts any positive change for our indigenous workforce.(Americans and our legal permanent residents)
A lot of money is involved in changes of this magnitude, some significant portion of GNP
But these economic analyses are fundamentally flawed in that they ignore the shock effect that will be caused by such an extreme violation of the social contract and the expectations of the American people for their leadership. Therefore I think its unlikely that we will be told whats really happening, and highly likely that some innocent scapegoat will be found, other than neoliberalism and the GATS agreement which after all is 20 years old, making any US news coverage of it and its long delayed effects unlikely.
(although they really should be covering it because of its huge impacts on us, which have the potential to be far worse than any of us seem to realize)
There has been coverage of several of these issues in India, which had what amounted to substantial news coverage of the school privatization issue in 2015 during the lead up to the Nairobi WTO conference in December, and after that as India has been challenging aspects of US policy before the WTO.
They have also made a proposal for a new FTA, a trade promotion agreement on services, pressuring the WTO to compel the WTO to force more liberalisation, of services. The proposals, online at the Council on Trade in Services web page (at WTO.org) and scattered across NGO sites and (Mostly) Indian media, are worth reading.
Their arguments for replacing expensive developed country workers (us) with their subcontractors are basically similar to the arguments for renting as opposed to buying.
I think the rapid improvements in automation are driving a lot of disinvestment because there is a perception that businesses wont need many workers not far into the future and a growing uneasiness globally about the "unrealistic expectations" of humanity. (People expect jobs and rising incomes when the fact is as jobs vanish, wages will fall, eventually - There isn't any justice here, its simple economics, as jobs vanish, the wages which people will work for (many will actually pay to continue working so their skills dont grow dull, that is already happening on a large scale in Europe) the 800 lb gorilla in the room is of course growing inequality. So the trade deals amount to a conspiracy of sorts among the elite of many nations increasingly corrupt nations, to help one another to maintain power in the face of rapidly growing pressure to change. They even have pledged among one another to undo any "protectionist" changes in advance.. (at the recent G20 meeting, in China)
The FTAs lock the future down, or attempt to. This next President will be making policy that cannot be reversed. Thats why losing Fast Track was basically almost losing the battle.
. Basically, we should view the corporate Mode Four agenda to lower wages and implement a guest worker program as potentially quite large in numbers of workers effected and it will be coming at the same time as other changes related to "liberalisation" (I am using the British spelling as a hint to search engine users, there is far more to be found using British spellings because of what amounts to an information block or media gag order here in the US. Or so it seems.Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
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