A couple years ago, then US Trade Representative Ron Kirk explained why the negotiating text of trade agreements like the TPP needed to be kept secret: because if the public debated it, the agreement probably wouldn‘t be approved. He used, as an example, a failed trade agreement where the text had been public. Beyond the „small sample size“ problem of this explanation, the much more troubling aspect is the obvious question of recognizing that if public debate would kill the agreement, perhaps it‘s the agreement that‘s the problem and not the public.