Trade economist Hanna C. Norberg writes:

When it comes to the value of real estate, the three most important factors are said to be location, location and location. With regards to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, it’s regulation, regulation and regulation.

In her Cato Online Forum essay, which was published in conjunction with this month’s Cato TTIP conference, Dr. Norberg explains how firms, workers, and consumers in the United States, in the European Union, and crucially (for those concerned about trade diversion and other adverse externalities), in third countries, can share in the benefits of reduced regulatory compliance costs. Achieving greater economies of scale, reducing the costs of under- or over-estimating market-specific demand, reducing barriers to entry for smaller firms, and creating efficiencies in portions of global value chains that will have ripple effects on other portions are all channels through which TTIP can drive global growth.

The associated cost savings from these efficiences, Norberg argues, “get passed on in the form of lower-prices, higher wages, more research and development, new and better quality products, and more investment.”

Read Hanna’s essay here.

Find the other essays here.