Trade Wars are Class Wars

A provocative look at how today's trade conflicts are caused by governments promoting the interests of elites at the expense of workers

Trade disputes are usually understood as conflicts between countries with competing national interests, but as Matthew C. Klein and Michael Pettis show in this book, they are often the unexpected result of domestic political choices to serve the interests of the rich at the expense of workers and ordinary retirees.

Klein and Pettis trace the origins of today's trade wars to decisions made by politicians and business leaders in China, Europe, and the United States over the past thirty years. Across the world, the rich have prospered while workers can no longer afford to buy what they produce, have lost their jobs, or have been forced into higher levels of debt. In this thought-provoking challenge to mainstream views, the authors provide a cohesive narrative that shows how the class wars of rising inequality are a threat to the global economy and international peace-and what we can do about it.

“" Trade Wars are Class Wars is a must-read from two of the most astute commentators on the global economy. Klein and Pettis offer an essential analysis of how domestic inequality and international conflict are interlinked, and provide an answer to the crisis of globalization."--Adam Tooze, author of Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World "An erudite, original, and provocative explanation of the global economic imbalances that have been at the root of numerous financial crises."--Ernesto Zedillo, Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization "This is a book that everyone concerned with the global economy should read. A fascinating account of the damage that rising inequality--especially in China and Germany--has done to all our economies"--Dani Rodrik, Harvard University”

"Trade Wars are Class Wars is a must-read from two of the most astute commentators on the global economy. Klein and Pettis offer an essential analysis of how domestic inequality and international conflict are interlinked, and provide an answer to the crisis of globalization."-Adam Tooze, author of Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World "An erudite, original, and provocative explanation of the global economic imbalances that have been at the root of numerous financial crises."-Ernesto Zedillo, Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization

"This is a book that everyone concerned with the global economy should read. A fascinating account of the damage that rising inequality-especially in China and Germany-has done to all our economies"-Dani Rodrik, Harvard University

Matthew C. Klein is the economics commentator at Barron's. He lives in San Francisco, CA. Michael Pettis is professor of finance at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He lives in Beijing.

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