ACS Hosts Conference on TPP

The Yale Law School chapter of the American Constitution Society will hold a conference on “Transforming the Global Economic Order: Understanding Critical Perspectives on the TPP” on October 4, 2016. The conference, co-sponsored by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, includes a keynote address by U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT).

While the Obama Administration has made the passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) a top priority, both major party presidential candidates have declared that they would refuse to sign the agreement. But beyond the campaign talking points and spin room analysis, are there substantive criticisms of the agreement? This event addresses this question by bringing a slate of leading TPP critics together in order to assess their claims. Panelists will examine the agreement’s effects on access to medicine, corporate power, democracy, the environment, financial sector regulation, health and safety regimes, and inequality. Panelists will also discuss their differing visions for a new American trade agenda.

“The politics of trade have become red hot in this election season. But we need to move beyond talking points into a sophisticated discussion of the substance of the TPP,” said Professor Amy Kapczynski ’03. “This is a rare opportunity to hear from critics across a wide range of issues—from the environment, to inequality, to health, to democratic accountability—and to press them on the merits of their arguments, and about what exactly they would like to see in place of the current trade regime. If this agreement is flawed, does the U.S. retreat from global lawmaking in this area, or instead develop a new agenda—and what might that look like?"

Panelists include Lori Wallach of Public Citizen, Dean Baker of the Center for Economics & Policy Research, Judit Rius of Doctors Without Borders, Ben Beachy of the Sierra Club, AFL-CIO's Damon Silvers, and many others. This event is open to the public; no registration is required. The keynote address will be at 127 Wall Street in New Haven at 12:10, and panels will be held at 4:10 and 5:40, respectively. For more details, visit the conference's Facebook page HERE.