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Slate's Jacob Weisberg notes that many of the newly-elected Dems are anti-free trade and:
As a result of this year's election, it now seems unlikely that the new Congress will extend George W. Bush's "fast-track" trade-negotiating authority, which expires this summer. The results are further bad news for the Doha round and bilateral trade agreements with South Korea and other countries. It is possible that congressional Democrats will revive efforts to saddle China with punitive tariffs as punishment for "currency manipulation." It would be going too far to say that the 2006 election ushers in a new protectionist consensus. But free trade has definitely left the building. If Weisberg is right, it bodes ill for IP. If other nations see the US dissing their interests, they will respond by dissing ours -- and one of our biggies is protection of IP.
So those who appreciate irony can savor the thought of all those entertainment types -- fanatic Dems to a person -- having put their campaign contrbution cash to work undermining one of their most important interests. Its enough to shake one's faith in economic determinism.
posted by James DeLong @ 8:34 AM | International
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