[URPE] A new book has been published by URPE member Ian Fletcher: Free Trade Doesn't Work: What Should Replace it and Why

[Ian Fletcher]

A new book has been published by URPE member Ian Fletcher:

 

Free Trade Doesn't Work: What Should Replace it and Why

 

http://www.amazon.com/Free-Trade-Doesnt-Work-Replace/dp/0578048205

 

The info page for the book is here: http://www.freetradedoesntwork.com

 

advert.gif

 

 

Foreword by Edward Luttwak

Introduction: Why We Can't Trust the Economists

PART I: THE PROBLEM
Chapter  1:   The Bad Arguments for Free Trade
Chapter  2:   Deficits, Time Horizons, and Perverse Efficiency
Chapter  3:   Trade Solutions That Won't Work
Chapter  4:   Critiques of Free Trade to Avoid

PART II: THE REAL ECONOMICS OF TRADE
Chapter  5:   Ye Olde Theory of Comparative Advantage
Chapter  6:   The Deliberately Forgotten History of Trade
Chapter  7:   The Negligible Benefits of Free Trade
Chapter  8:   The Disingenuous Law and Diplomacy of Free Trade

PART III: THE SOLUTION
Chapter  9:  Where Does Growth Really Come From?
Chapter 10: The Multiple Equilibrium Revolution
Chapter 11: The Natural Strategic Tariff
Chapter 12: The End of the Free Trade Coalition

 

 

Critical Praise:

 

Fletcher has written a powerful and refreshing critique of some cherished 
assumptions held by mainstream economists. It is uniformly insightful, often

brilliant, and remarkably readable. Obama's team should read it - and soon.
-George C. Lodge, professor emeritus, Harvard Business School and author of 
Managing Globalization in the Age of Interdependence.

Most Americans live under the myth that "sound economics" says so-called
"free 
trade" benefits all nations. Fletcher shows, in very readable prose, how the

discipline is finally catching up with reality and common sense and is
changing its 
mind on that matter. This book will be an essential guide to the emerging
debate 
over the wisdom of "free trade" as a sound policy for our nation.
-Patrick A. Mulloy, Commissioner, U.S.-China Economic and Security Review 
Commission, former Assistant Secretary of Commerce, former General Counsel, 
Senate Banking Committee.

Unregulated markets have driven the global economy over the cliff, and it is
now 
vital for economists and policy-makers to consider alternative approaches to

economic theory and policy. Ian Fletcher makes a powerful case for
abandoning the 
simplistic mantra that markets generally maximize welfare and tariffs or
regulations 
reduce economic prosperity. He points to more nuanced policies that avoid
the 
extremes of blanket protectionism and unregulated trade.
-Prof. Geoffrey Hodgson, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Institutional
Economics, 
Cambridge University Press.

Ian Fletcher has laid out a powerful critique of so-called "free trade"
theory, while 
also making the case for rethinking and reforming our current trade
policies. Given 
the economic challenges we face in an increasingly treacherous global
economy, 
this book provides essential tools and analysis for policymakers and
activists.
-John J. Sweeney, President, AFL-CIO and author of and author of America 
Needs a Raise: Fighting for Economic Security and Social Justice.

Drawing on the insights of a broad array of political persuasions, Ian
Fletcher 
delivers a devastating and powerful indictment of free trade economics-one
that 
should be widely read, not the least by economists themselves who's work 
generally remains confined to their own narrow discipline. I agree with
Fletcher: "we 
can't trust the economists."Free Trade Doesn't Work will spark some
much-needed 
debate on what sort of political and economic policies we can trust.
-Gavin Fridell, author of Fair Trade Coffee: the Prospects and Pitfalls of
Market-
Driven Social Justice, Assistant Professor of Politics at Trent University, 
Peterborough, Ontario.

Like the Holy Grail, free trade is a concept that works in the classroom and
in the 
minds of academics and others insulated from the harsh realities of global
trade in 
the real world. In the real world, we have managed trade. This ranges from
the blind 
free trade faith of economists, editorial boards, and politicians to the
mercantilist, 
protectionist, predatory trade practiced by some of our major global trading

"partners" like China. This book is an excellent introduction to these
realities and 
what can be done about them. Unregulated markets have driven the global 
economy over the cliff, and it is now vital for economists and policy-makers
to 
consider alternative approaches to economic theory and policy. Ian Fletcher
makes 
a powerful case for abandoning the simplistic mantra that markets generally 
maximize welfare and tariffs or regulations reduce economic prosperity. He
points 
to more nuanced policies that avoid the extremes of blanket protectionism
and 
unregulated trade.
-Dan DiMicco, Chairman and CEO, Nucor Steel Corporation and author of 
Steeling America's Future: a CEO's Call to Arms.

Ian Fletcher bravely takes on the free-trade theorists who led cheers for
the slow-
motion disintegration of American prosperity and he trumps them with facts
and 
clear-eyed logic. If people will listen, Fletcher's informed voice will help
turn the 
country toward a more promising future.
-William Greider, author of Come Home, America: The Rise and Fall (and 
Redeeming Promise) of Our Country.

If the rest of your book is of this quality, you will have a classic that
will be of use for 
many years... You are making a major contribution to thinking on trade
policy.
-Pat Choate, Running mate of Ross Perot in 1996 and author of Dangerous 
Business: The Risks of Globalization for America.

A trenchant and comprehensive analysis of the gap between the theory of free
trade 
and reality, together with a revealing description of the weaknesses of the
theory 
itself.
-Ralph Gomory, Research Professor, Stern School of Business, New York 
University and author of Global Trade and Conflicting National Interests.

In this sophisticated, well-informed, and comprehensive study, Ian Fletcher 
provides a very powerful, passionate, and convincing critique of free trade
in an 
accessible and engaging manner. Read it.
-Ha-Joon Chang, University of Cambridge, author of Kicking away the Ladder
and 
Bad Samaritans.

Trading Up is an excellent guide to the economic realities obscured by the 
intellectually hollow promotion of 'free trade'. It is up-to-date,
comprehensive and 
very readable.
-Jeff Faux, Distinguished Fellow, Economic Policy Institute and author of
The 
Global Class War: How America's Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future - and What
It Will 
Take to Win It Back.

Rebuilding the American economy will require those in power to understand
that 
what benefits workers, benefits the country. In Free Trade Doesn't Work, Ian

Fletcher makes it clear that America's nearly $6 trillion trade deficit
accumulated 
since NAFTA took effect in 1994 benefits neither workers nor the nation. The
book 
debunks the myth of free trade and proposes a responsible alternative that
would 
restore a measure of sanity to America's international trade policy.
-Leo W. Gerard, President, United Steelworkers.

If it strikes you that most of the arguments put forth for "free trade" are
really just so 
much globaloney, you're right! Fletcher rips the mask from free trade myths,

pointing out that economists increasingly reject the idea that our nation
(or others) 
should base economic policy on such a dubious proposition. This book is a 
powerful tool for anyone who wants to help raise common sense to high
places.
-Jim Hightower, Bestselling author, national radio and newspaper
commentator, 
and editor of The Hightower Lowdown.

A superb debunking of the arguments for free trade and a thoughtful
examination of 
the alternatives. Fletcher's book is required reading for policy-makers and
for the 
general public trying to understand how the United States has fallen into a
debt trap 
and what has to be done to escape it. The book is also a lesson in how 
governments can sometimes convince citizens to support policies that work 
against them.
-Richard H. Robbins. Author of Global Problems and the Culture of
Capitalism, 
and Globalization and the Environment (with Gary Kroll) and Distinguished 
Teaching Professor at Plattsburgh State University.

Free Trade Doesn't Work offers a satisfying critique of the flaws of free
trade 
economics, and the damage that related policies have caused to the US
economy 
and beyond. Its arguments are tools with which to break the hold of the
current free 
trade consensus over our politicians, and to work towards truly fair trade
and 
economic policies.
-Stephanie Celt, Director, Washington Fair Trade Coalition

One of the weaknesses of my book Debunking Economics was the lack of a 
critique of the theory of free trade. My excuse was that I would have needed
an entire 
book to pull apart that fallacious but widely believed theory. Ian
Fletcher's very 
readable Free Trade Doesn't Work provides that book.
-Prof. Steve Keen, author of Debunking Economics and Associate Professor in 
economics and finance at the University of Western Sydney, Australia.

Recently, Paul Samuelson, the godfather of modern economics, called the 
economic orthodoxy pushing free trade "charlatans." After reading Free Trade

Doesn't Work you will know why he did. Ian Fletcher exposes the lies about
free 
trade and a offers an easy to understand roadmap to economic reality.
-Bob Baugh, Executive Director, AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council

In Free Trade Doesn't Work, Ian Fletcher points to the ideal of 'free trade'
and 
proclaims it isn't wearing any clothes! Instead of following along with the
crowd, 
Fletcher systematically presents the failures of an unrestrained trade
system and 
offers up a balanced discussion of what a managed trade system could 
accomplish in its place. His discussion of the World Trade Organization's
goals, 
and of China's open defiance of the spirit of WTO rules, is refreshingly
honest and 
timely. A direct move toward managed and open global trade is what America 
needs from its economic emperors, and this book is an important step in that

direction.
-Thomas S. Mullikin, author of Truck Stop Politics: Understanding the
Emerging 
Force of Working Class America.

Ian Fletcher has convincingly dismantled the facade that for decades enticed
U.S. 
cattle ranchers and their trade associations to support a free trade policy
that was 
systematically destroying the economic integrity of their industry. A superb
analysis 
of our nation's misdirection.
-Bill Bullard, CEO, R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United

Stockgrowers of America)

Ian Fletcher's argument against free trade and in favor of tariffs is not
only a 
courageous assault on our so-called conventional wisdom, it makes a
brilliant and 
wildly compelling case for regulation.  The book is an impressive piece of 
scholarship, one that could and should provide the blueprint for government 
intervention in commerce.  Economists will stand up and take notice.  Wall
Street 
will hate it.
-David Macaray, author, It's Never Been Easy: Essays on Modern Labor


This readable book dramatizes our lost history of global trade and
punc-tures the 
mythology surrounding the benefits of unbridled free trade.  A vital primer
for anyone 
trying to understand the current trade debate.
-Chuck Collins, Institute for Policy Studies; co-author, The Moral Measure
of the 
Economy

You have written a bible for us. It is brilliant! You even cover issues I
have been 
concerned about but never had time to discuss with anyone else. I start-ed
by 
reading it and ended by studying it. Am now going through it for the second
time 
underlining and highlighting.
-Brian O'Shaughnessy, Chairman, Revere Copper Products; Co-Chair, Coalition 
for a Prosperous America

                                 



 

Ian Fletcher is an Adjunct Fellow at the San Francisco office 
of the U.S. Business and Industry Council, a Washington 
think tank founded in 1933. He may be contacted at 
ian.fletcher at usbic.net or 415.439.8377.

 

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