The Mad Dash to Deem Trade Agreements “Progressive”
2018 seems to be the year of the Progressive trade agreement. The Trans-Pacific Partnership has been renamed the “Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership” (CPTPP). Canada has floated proposals in the NAFTA renegotiation that it has advertised as progressive. Why? Populists in 2016 reminded us that trade agreements are inherently not progressive. Economic theory…