JFI hosts Michael Pettis, Adam Tooze, and Matthew Klein discussing “Trade Wars are Class Wars” book release

On May 28th, Phenomenal World Editor Jack Gross hosted Michael Pettis and Matthew Klein for a discussion on their recently-released book, Trade Wars are Class Wars: How Rising Inequality Distorts the Global Economy and Threatens International Peace, in a discussion moderated by Columbia University historian Adam Tooze.

Tooze said, “Trade Wars Are Class Wars is a book that, without exaggeration, everyone should read. It’s profoundly provocative. Not everyone is going to agree with everything in the book, or its implications, but we all need to engage with the arguments being offered here.”

Pettis summarized the key argument of the book by saying, “Trade cost and certainly trade conflict in the modern era don’t really reflect differences in the cost of production; what they reflect is this difference in savings and balances. They primarily reflect savings imbalances, which are themselves primarily driven by the distortions in the distribution of income.”

The event was attended virtually by over two hundred people and garnered lively discussion among several economists in attendance. A full transcript of the discussion will be available soon on Phenomenal World, and a recording of the talk can be viewed on YouTube here.