The Case for Trade, and Why American Leaders Need to Make It

By Robert Zoellick (original source Harvard Business Review) 

“Trade is in trouble in U.S. politics. Both the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, have blamed U.S. trade agreements for loss of jobs and a rash of economic ills. President Barack Obama squandered opportunity by failing to make the case for trade for his first five years in office; now the president’s window for passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is closing. Democratic support for trade in Congress has withered over the years, and now more Republicans in Congress are hesitating, too.

The loss of American trade leadership could hardly come at a worse time. In an era when monetary policy seems to have been stretched to the limit, and fiscal policies are constrained by debt and reluctance to spend, businesses and governments around the world need to reignite the spark of trade to fuel economic growth.”

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