This interview was originally broadcast in June, 2017.
In recent years, the powerful and at times unexpected impacts of globalization have sent shock waves through our country’s political, economic and social systems. The promise that open trade and investment would bring new jobs, economic growth and price stability has not materialized for many Americans, who have seen their standard of living stagnate or diminish. At the same time, there is widespread disagreement about what our country needs to do to more effectively compete in the current global marketplace.
Edward Alden, brings a timely analysis to these issues in a new book, titled Failure to Adjust: How Americans Got Left Behind in the Global Economy. In the book, Mr. Alden explains how four decades of U.S. economic and trade policies have led to our current predicament, and the very real options we have for a course correction.
Mr. Alden is the Bernard L. Schwarz Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and a former journalist who worked as Washington bureau chief for The Financial Times and for other media outlets. His previous book, The Closing of the American Border: Terrorism, Immigration and Security since 9/11 , was a finalist for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize.
