Why Globalization Works for America: How Nationalist Trade Policies Are Destroying Our Country

by Edward Goldberg

Overview

Blue-collar job loss, immigration, trade deficits—Americans blame globalization for a host of problems. Indeed, even in a political system split by fundamental divisions, populists and progressives alike belong to a chorus that decries globalization’s effects on our politics, way of life, and interactions with the world. Yet the United States is the biggest beneficiary of the global economy it has helped to create.

Edward Goldberg argues that globalization is the economic and cultural version of evolution, a natural process that pushes people into more efficient behavior influenced by the market and our human need to explore, change, and grow. Properly implemented, it propels cultures and societies forward as one new idea challenges or blends into another. Harmful nationalist policies have arisen because Americans do not equally share globalization’s benefits, a situation made worse by the government’s refusal to implement policies that would mitigate the rampant inequalities.

A bold challenge to popular opinion, Why Globalization Works for America offers a historically informed analysis of why we should celebrate globalization’s place in our lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781640123014
Publisher:	Potomac Books
Publication date:	07/01/2020
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Edward Goldberg is an adjunct professor at the New York University Center for Global Affairs specializing in international political economy and is a scholarly practitioner at the Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College, City University of New York. Goldberg has commented about the issues of globalization on Bloomberg radio and TV, PBS, and NPR’s Marketplace. He also writes a regular column on international economics and politics for Salon and is a frequent commentator to the Hill. He is the author of The Joint Ventured Nation: Why America Needs a New Foreign Policy.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction    
1. Big Victory but No Parade    
2. “Make It Like It Was”    
3. A Disturbance in the Force    
4. How Downton Abbey Resonates in America Today    
5. Becoming Less Great    
6. We Have Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself    
7. Tomorrow
Index

Editorial Reviews

“A powerful defense of economic globalization and an indictment of the American political system’s failure to adapt to its accelerating and inexorable advance—a failure that has sparked a populist revolt by those left behind, threatening America’s global leadership and even our democracy.”—William M. LeoGrande, professor of government at American University

William M. LeoGrande

“A richly detailed, clear-eyed examination of how America arrived at this odd moment in history and what truly makes the U.S. economy great. Goldberg’s chapter on the disastrous history of trade tariffs should be required reading for everyone working on trade policy in DC. An approachable, sophisticated examination of the problems ailing America and the political myopia that led to them.”—Heather Timmons, economics editor for Reuters

Heather Timmons

“This book offers an outstanding overview of a complex subject by placing a pro-globalization thesis within a broader historical framework. . . . This work should have cross-party and cross-disciplinary appeal”—Irene E. Finel-Honigman, coauthor of International Banking for a New Century

Irene E. Finel-Honigman