Freedom From Want

Edward Gresser
242 pages (November 2007); 1.1MB download
Soft Skull Press; ISBN: 1-933368-62-4

DESCRIPTION

A provocative book on trade policy that argues that opponents of free trade have abandoned liberalism and are playing into the hands of the very corporations and business conservatives they claim to oppose.

"Ed Gresser is the most erudite, original and humane trade analyst we have. Read his book -- to learn what we've done right, what we've missed, and how much more we can do." Charlene Barshefsky, former US Trade Representative in the Clinton Administration

When anti-globalization protestors take to the streets, America's liberals are cheering them on. For them, globalization helps only large corporations, exploits cheap labor, and rewards lax environmental standards. Led by Democrats like Howard Dean, these liberals increasingly see free trade as driving down wages and sending American jobs overseas. Tapping into a powerful fear among workers, American liberals have declared free trade and open markets dangerous to America, and are calling for retreat.

Yet in Freedom From Want, Gresser shows how these American liberals who look to put the brakes on globalization have unwittingly turned their backs on the poor, and have abandoned a tradition heralded by Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Clinton. Instead, they have adopted a view synonymous with a conservative tradition reaching back to Sparta. Looking at the global economy, American liberals have forgotten where they come from, and have little idea how to move forward.

Gresser's book restores the traditional liberal vision of the global economy and prepares it for the future.