Economy

Week In Politics: Speaker Of The House Race, Hillary Clinton On The TPP

NPR's Robert Siegel speaks with our regular political commentators E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post and Brookings Institution and David Brooks of The New York Times. They discuss Rep. Kevin McCarthy's decision to withdraw from the race for the next Speaker of the House, Hillary Clinton's opposition to the TPP, and the Russian strategy in Syria.

TPP Negotiators Reached Agreement With Sticky Compromise On Biologics Drugs

A big sticking point in the negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership involved biologics medicines and vaccines created from living organisms. The dispute centered on patent protection: how many years drug companies should have before facing competition from generics. The negotiators ended up with a complicated compromise that gives drug makers five to eight years of protection. But nobody is really happy with the outcome.