Pax Atlantis ?

I am afraid I sense quite some similarities between Beyoncé's performance at the re-inaugarution of President Obama and the official bi(multi)-lateral announcement of an US-EU free trade economy.

In what meets the eye (or reaches the ear), there is momentum, ceremony,  history, tradition, beauty, power, I would even say something personal for the central role players, all before a silent yet genuine excited audience.  

At noon on 21 January in Washington D.C., I doubt if it mattered for the saluting military or the general standing public that Beyoncé chose to sing the national anthem in playback. 

However, where a choir of 27 heads of state, with a special duet for the president of the European Council and Commission on one side of the Atlantic and shortly therafter the US president on the other side, speak with one voice on future free trans-atlantic trade, the many cheering enterpreneurs may want to hold onto their applause after we have been able to verify the rehearsed political announcement with the "live" version.

The current levels of tariffs and duties on trans-atlantic trade are not that high compared to what's practised with other regions in the world.  Approximately two thirds of current movements of goods are between affiliated companies.  Even the non-tariff measures as far those have been marked by WTO standards are fairly transparent and identifiable for any enterpreneur or inventor.

So it does come down to how willingly (and able) parties are to go beyond the traditional barriers to trade, freedom of establishment, trademarking and (government) sponsered R&D.  In that respect, once we come down to the "details", we should expect quite a bit of mudthrowing in and out of arbitral courts, not to mention each others monetary and fiscal policies, including the bi-lateral relationships with emerging countries, which just maybe, the intended agreement is all about.

We will be hearing the same politically composed song a trillion times in the next 2-3 years on the value of transatlantic trade, FDI-flows, intangibles and technology and the sum of the joint economies in nominal GDP terms versus other regions in the world, along with the roots and causes of political and military aliances.

For the true entrepreneur this will just be another opportunity to apply her/his skill more than potential competitors do, which after all is what fair and free market trade and value is all about.  It would fit the political performers of the world's most advanced nations well to just step backstage and let businesses themselves truly evolve freely and maybe get some taxrebates in exchange for less government time.