Tag: Fast Track Authority

Contributor Post Created with Sketch. The Libertarian Podcast: The Fight Over Free Trade

Troy Senik
By Troy Senik
Troy Senik Contributor
Troy Senik was a White House speechwriter for George W. Bush. He is the host of the Hoover Institution podcasts Law Talk with Epstein & Yoo; The Classicist, with Victor Davis Hanson; and The Libertarian, with Richard Epstein. Senik is the author of the forthcoming book  A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life and Improbable Presidency of Grover Cleveland.
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21 COMMENTS
 

In this week’s episode of The Libertarian podcast from the Hoover Institution, I lead our own Richard Epstein through a discussion of the many controversies birthed by the debate over the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Do trade deals put the screws to American workers? Is the quest for fast-track authority another example of presidential overreach? Should the public be worried about the secrecy around the TPP? Does this deal present threats to American sovereignty? All those topics and more will be addressed when you listen to the show below or subscribe to The Libertarian via iTunes.

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Contributor Post Created with Sketch. The Game Theory Argument for Fast-Track Trade Authority

Richard Epstein
By Richard Epstein
Richard Epstein Contributor
Known to students at the University of Chicago and NYU law schools as “the libertarian,” Richard Epstein has established himself as an expert in constitutional law, contracts, corporate law, real estate law, torts, labor law—and even Roman law. He is reputed to be more knowledgeable about Justinian’s Code than anyone since the Emperor Justinian himself. The Peter and Kirsten Bedford senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Richard Epstein is the author of several books including, The Cas… [more]
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2 COMMENTS
 

While public debate rages over the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the real issue before Congress right now is merely whether or not President Obama should be granted fast-track authority, which allows him to negotiate a treaty on behalf of the United States and then present it to the Congress for a straight up-or-down vote with no amendments allowed. As I note in my new piece for Defining Ideas at the Hoover Institution, there’s a very strong game theory rationale for giving the president this ability:

… [F]ast-track is a good solution to a complex two-stage bargaining game. At stage one, the President and his trading partners are well aware of the prospect that the Congress could turn down a trade treaty if it is perceived, no questions asked, to put the United States in a worse position. So Congress will agree to a treaty that is better than the status quo ante for the U.S., but not so one-sided that it will drive our potential trading partners away. Hence, a stage one agreement will leave everyone better off.

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Contributor Post Created with Sketch. There’s No Good Conservative Case Against Fast-Track Trade Authority

John Yoo
By John Yoo
John Yoo Contributor
John Yoo is professor of law at the University of California at Berkeley and a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. From 2001 to 2003, he served as deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department of President George W. Bush. He also served as a law clerk to Judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court, and as general counsel of the U.S. Senate Judiciary… [more]
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17 COMMENTS
 

shutterstock_142905070 (1)The Senate Finance Committee is taking up the topic of “fast track” trade authority today, which would empower President Obama to negotiate trade deals, namely the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an ambitious free-trade area that would cover most of our Asian trading partners (except China) and rival the European Union in size. Some conservatives, however, are resisting the proposal, claiming that it only further consolidates power in an already out-of-control executive. While I’ve been a staunch critic of President Obama’s executive overreach, I don’t think that argument holds up here. As I write at National Review:

…Critics are missing the mark by confusing fast track with Obama’s executive power grabs. Fast track does not delegate any power to the executive branch. Under fast track, the president does not exercise any new authority that he lacked before. Under normal constitutional practice, the president negotiates an international agreement and then submits it to Congress for approval. Fast-track doesn’t change that fundamental order. President Obama can negotiate any agreement he likes, and Congress is free to vote it up or down.

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