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Failure to Adjust: How Americans Got Left Behind in the Global Economy
*Updated edition with a new foreword on the Trump administration's trade policy*
The vast benefits promised by the supporters of globalization, and by their own government, have never materialized for many Americans. In Failure to Adjust Edward Alden provides a compelling history of the last four decades of US economic and trade policies that have left too many Americans unable to adapt to or compete in the current global marketplace. He tells the story of what went wrong and how to correct the course. Originally published on the eve of the 2016 presidential election, Alden’s book captured the zeitgeist that would propel Donald J. Trump to the presidency. In a new introduction to the paperback edition, Alden addresses the economic challenges now facing the Trump administration, and warns that economic disruption will continue to be among the most pressing issues facing the United States. If the failure to adjust continues, Alden predicts, the political disruptions of the future will be larger still.
The vast benefits promised by the supporters of globalization, and by their own government, have never materialized for many Americans. In Failure to Adjust Edward Alden provides a compelling history of the last four decades of US economic and trade policies that have left too many Americans unable to adapt to or compete in the current global marketplace. He tells the story of what went wrong and how to correct the course. Originally published on the eve of the 2016 presidential election, Alden’s book captured the zeitgeist that would propel Donald J. Trump to the presidency. In a new introduction to the paperback edition, Alden addresses the economic challenges now facing the Trump administration, and warns that economic disruption will continue to be among the most pressing issues facing the United States. If the failure to adjust continues, Alden predicts, the political disruptions of the future will be larger still.
268 pages, Paperback
Published September 15, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 23, 2017
Our hyper-partisan political world leaves us wondering what is true and what is "Fake News". You find, when you step away from the partisanship that has defined the American political system, that Republicans and Democrats are both right, and they are both wrong. Edward Alden has shown how that hyper-partisanship over the last half century has led to the US's failure to adjust to the global market and how if we take a little bit from the left and a little bit from the right, we may just become the economic superpower we once were.
December 24, 2018
Alden reported for the Financial Times on international economics, trade, and investment policy for many years. He is currently with the Council on Foreign Relations. This book summarizes the wisdom of the marketplace that he gleaned as a reporter covering Congress, trade association meetings, academia, and many US Administrations. He outlines spot-on solutions to the policy challenges facing the United States. What he proposes isn't easy, but isn't out of reach either. It just takes political will and integrity.
June 7, 2017
This book clocks in at 200 pages, but it's a pen exceedingly dense 200 pages. The author makes a compelling and easy to follow argument. I would recommend,mend it to anyone who want to know more about US trade economics.
July 20, 2020
An excellent analysis of ways in which America can improve its economy and global competitiveness.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews