I am not locking/filtering this, but this is academic wankery probably only of interest to few

Today while.listening to my students' presentations, I was struck by how much the post-Cotonou Agreement, WTO-compliant EU-ACP trade negotiations are similar to the US health insurance model. If you are a LDC (Least Developed Country), you probably don't want to/don't have to sign the EPA, because you already have open access to the European markets under the Everything But Arms agreement. But if you are merely a Developing Country, one that either never was an LDC, or, like Kenya, "graduated" from the LDC cluster, you are forced into an EPA, because that's your only ticket to exports, even though the imports you will now have to allow can flood your market, ruin your domestic industries, interfere with food security, etc. Similarly, if you live in abject poverty in the US, you are eligible for Medicaid. But if you are just poor, then you are just fucked, you are forced into subpar health insurance racket, run for profit, and most definitely not for YOUR profit. The costs may very well outweigh the benefits, as you are served a heaping plate of shit, and told that it's for your own good. Not surprisingly, both, in the grand scheme of things, are brought to you by neoliberalism. Hooray neoliberalism!