Recent free-trade initiatives are over-hyped

The goal of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) of establishing a fully-integrated economic community by 2015, with complete free flow of goods, services and investment, is likely to remain out of reach. What’s more, we are sceptical that an alternative free-trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), will become a driver of regional integration. In any case, the overall economic benefits of the TPP would be small.

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