Economist Jeffrey Sachs says no to TPP and TTIP trade deals

By Jeffrey Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute, Columbia University; Director, Center for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Solutions Network

"Investor-state dispute settlement clauses give absolutely unjustified and dangerous powers to investors vis-à-vis the state." (2017)

TPP Take Two

By Paul Krugman, Economist, 2008 Nobel Prize laureate

"[The Transpacific Partnership] is not really so much about trade as about strengthening intellectual property monopolies and corporate clout in dispute settlement — both arguably bad things, not good, even from an efficiency standpoint." (2015)

Senior legal experts oppose ISDS

By Judith Resnik, Cruz Reynoso, Honorable H. Lee Sarokin, Joseph E. Stiglitz, Laurence H. Tribe

“Our legal system rests on the conviction that every individual, regardless of wealth or power, has an equal right to bring a case to court. To protect and uphold the rule of law, our ideals of fairness and justice must apply in all situations and equally to everyone. ISDS, in contrast, is a system built on differential access. ISDS provides a separate legal system available only to certain investors who are authorized to exit the American legal system.” (2015)

Statement of concern about planned provisions on investment protection and Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)

By 120 law academics

“The rationale for bilateral investment treaties was traditionally linked to views about the potential impact on foreign investment of uncertainty caused by weak legal and judicial systems in host countries. While such a vision of failed statehood should in itself be examined further, it suffices to point out, in the context of the relationship between the US and the EU, that it is difficult to argue realistically that investors have cause to worry about domestic legal systems on either side of the Atlantic. Above all, with FDI stocks of over €1,5 trillion either way, it is implausible to claim that investors in fact have been deterred.” (2014)

Public statement on the international investment regime

By 80 economics, humanities, law & political science academics

“We have a shared concern for the harm done to the public welfare by the international investment regime, as currently structured, especially its hampering of the ability of governments to act for their people in response to the concerns of human development and environmental sustainability.” (2010)