As we draw near to the conclusion of TAFTA/TTIP’s first year of negotiations, the detailed differences are starting to emerge between the US and EU. But one thing they both take for granted is that it’s a good idea. “Good” in this context is essentially about money: the argument is that concluding a trade deal between the US and EU will boost both their economies, increase companies’ profits, create employment and generally make people better off. Of course, since all of those are in the future, the only way to justify those kind of claims is to model the likely effects of TTIP on the various economies — of the US, EU and rest of the world.
That’s precisely what a study entitled “Reducing Transatlantic Barriers to Trade and Investment; An Economic Assessment” aimed to do (pdf). […]
While some will doubtless argue about the details of the new GUE/NGL analysis, it has the valuable function of reminding us that TAFTA/TTIP is not just about corporate profits, but also concerns the 800 million people who make up the citizenry of the US and EU. Until they are included in the equation, and their potential losses and gains factored in, any claims about TTIP’s “benefits” — even the tiny ones that the European Commission’s analysis comes up with in its “ambitious and comprehensive” agreement — must be regarded as simplistic, one-sided and incomplete.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140417/09391926947/taftattip-what-are-benefits-what-are-costs.shtml