Foreword v Acknowledgments vii Memorandum to the President from the National Economic Council 1 Memo One: American Trade Leadership and the Global Economic System - C. Fred Bergsten 26 Memo Two: A Personal Overview of U.S. Trade Policy - William A. Niskanen 38 Memo Three: Fast Track's Problem--Not the Marketing, the Product - Jeff Faux 46 Memo Four: Redressing the "Democratic Deficit" in U.S. Trade Policy - Pat Choate 60 Background Materials 71 About the Authors 81
Overview
With fast-track trade authority sidetracked, at least for now, experts believe it is time to take a hard look at the alternatives in order to sustain momentum for increasing world trade. In FutureVisions for U.S. Trade Policy, the experts cite three ways out of the deadlock: first, provide new presidential leadership to gain some support for regional and multilateral trade liberalization; second, pause strategically to develop a better way of dealing with the inevitable challenges of globalization (including displaced workers, the U.S. trade deficit, the environment, and workers' rights); or third, accept the elimination of fast track and make Capitol Hill more responsible and thus accountable for trade policy.
For more than thirty years, the fast-track system of trade policy worked reasonably well. Congress granted presidents negotiating authority while retaining the right to a simple up or down vote on all trade agreements. After the congressional decision not to grant the White House this kind of leeway, the Council chose to look at strategic alternatives for the future. To examine the issue and present alternatives, the Council identified experts with diverse perspectives: C. Fred Bergsten of the Institute for International Economics, William Niskanen of the Cato Institute, Jeff Faux of the Economic Policy Institute, and Pat Choate, the 1996 Reform Party vice presidential candidate.
BRUCE STOKES is a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
C. FRED BERGSTEN is the Director of the Institute for International Economics (IIE). While at IIE he has served as the chairman of the Eminent Persons Group of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (1993-95) and chairman of the Council on Competitiveness (1991-97). Before creating IIE he served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs. He has authored many articles and books including Whither APEC? (1997) and Global Economic Leadership and the Group of Seven (1996).
WILLIAM A. NISKANEN is the Chairman of the Cato Institute. Prior to joining Cato in 1985 he was acting chairman of President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers. He has a long and distinguished record in both the private and public sectors as a microeconomist. He has written and lectured on a variety of subjects related to government economic policy. In 1989 he coedited Dollars, Deficits & Trade, and his volume Reaganomics: An Insider's Account of the Policies and the People was named one of the ten best business books of 1988.
JEFF FAUX is President of the Economic Policy Institute, which he founded in 1986 with several prominent economists. He has researched, written, and published a wide variety of studies on international economic issues and often is called upon as a consultant to all levels of the government, businesses, labor unions, and community organizations. In the past he worked as an economist at several government offices, including the U.S. Departments of State, Commerce, and Labor. In 1996 he released his latest book, The Party's Not Over: A New Vision for the Democrats.
PAT CHOATE, a political economist, is Adjunct Professor at George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management and hosts a national syndicated radio program. He writes and lectures on competitiveness, management, and public policy. In 1996, he was chosen as Ross Perot's vice-presidential running mate. He has authored several articles and books including Save Your Job, Save Our Country; Why NAFTA Must Be Stopped; The High-Flex Society, and his best-selling Agents of Influence.
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