THE Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has long lectured its rich member countries about pursuing free trade, privatisation and flexible labour and product markets.
That is partly because popular enthusiasm for the inflation-busting free-market reforms of the "Washington consensus" (ie, sound macro-economic policies, free trade, privatisation and deregulation) was undermined by a severe regionwide recession in 1998-2002.
Then there is what Marcio Pochmann, of the São Paulo city government, calls the "new poverty", of educated whites thrown out of work by freer trade, privatisation and economic change.
And last night Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the European Commission, had more to say about the potential dangers of a trade deal (privatisation of public services appears to be a particular concern) than about its benefits.A year ago Europe's leaders were feeling moderately optimistic.
Grassroots people do not want trade liberalisation, privatisation and structural adjustment programmes.
In that time, we've tackled aid, trade, water privatisation and speculation on food commodities.
Peter Rowlands Swansea Membership of the EU imposes austerity and trade policies, privatisation and wars on all countries, not just those in the eurozone.
Part is orthodox: prudent macroeconomic management, plus structural reforms such as open trade, deregulation, privatisation and a widely imitated private pension system, all helping to boost savings and investment.
Anti-poverty groups are concerned about the rising power of the IMF, which they say still imposes tough economic conditions on countries that want to borrow, and promulgates the "Washington Consensus" of unfettered financial markets, free trade and privatisation.
My view is that the real problem in the UK over the past few decades has been that labour's share of economic output has been in decline as a result of the running down of manufacturing, weaker trade unions, privatisation and globalisation.
It's time for the British opposition to unequivocally oppose TTIP's sister agreements, Ceta, the Canada-EU deal due to be ratified this winter, and Tisa, a super-privatisation trade deal that would lock in privatisation and liberalisation of services from finance to transportation.
