7 Things You Should Read about the Trans-Pacific Partnership

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement with Asian countries, is being debated in Congress this week. The bill is divisive. The TPP sets to build bonds between the United States and an Asia-Pacific region that has become the manufacturing hub of the world. The agreement has become a priority for President Obama in his last years in the White House, yet many in his own party stand against him due to fears of job loss from fears of globalization. Here are 7 things you should read on free trade, industrialization, and business growth.

Why Both Sides are Wrong About Trade By Michael Lind, Politico Magazine

Globalization is seen the most important economic trend of our time, and there is an argument over whether it is good or bad. But there is a third possibility: What if globalization never actually happened on the scale that we assume?

How America Became Uncompetitive and Unequal By Lina Khan and Sandeep Vaheesan, The Washington Post

The ongoing debate in America over economic inequality is vital but incomplete. The lack of competition in many sectors of the U.S. economy is also a powerful driver of economic disparity.

The Cost of Free Trade By Michael Lind, The American Prospect

Every president asserts that the next trade treaty will turn America into an export powerhouse, but that's just not true.

The Rise of Big Chocolate By Lina Khan, Foreign Policy

Two mega-companies are trying to seize control of the world's cocoa supply. What that means for poor African farmers and your favorite chocolate bar.

The Industrial Policy that America has Forgotten By Barry Lynn, Europe's World

Enlightened U.S. policymakers of the post-war era promoted economic inter-dependence as a key to world peace, but today that approach has been eroded, and the original vision is fading.

The Last State Standing Against Corporate Farming Weighs a Change By Leah Douglas, Fortune

A proposed bill in Nebraska’s state legislature would overturn a ban on the corporate ownership of hogs, allowing giant meatpackers to take even more control of the American meat industry.

Ferguson's Post Protest Business Recovery Plan By Chris Leonard, Bloomberg

Ferguson's riots were contained to a relatively small area and many businesses are still able to operate. The city has a chance to rebound, but in a place where emotions remain so raw, no one thinks it will be easy.