Open: The Progressive Case for Free Trade, Immigration, and Global Capital

by Kimberly Clausing

Overview

A Financial Times Best Economics Book of the Year
A Foreign Affairs Best Book of the Year
A Fareed Zakaria GPS Book of the Week

“A highly intelligent, fact-based defense of the virtues of an open, competitive economy and society.”
—Fareed Zakaria

“A vitally important corrective to the current populist moment…Open points the way to a kinder, gentler version of globalization that ensures that the gains are shared by all.”
—Justin Wolfers

“Clausing’s important book lays out the economics of globalization and, more important, shows how globalization can be made to work for the vast majority of Americans. I hope the next President of the United States takes its lessons on board.”
—Lawrence H. Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury

“Makes a strong case in favor of foreign trade in goods and services, the cross-border movement of capital, and immigration. This valuable book amounts to a primer on globalization.”
—Richard N. Cooper, Foreign Affairs

Critics on the Left have long attacked open markets and free trade agreements for exploiting the poor and undermining labor, while those on the Right complain that they unjustly penalize workers back home. Kimberly Clausing takes on old and new skeptics in her compelling case that open economies are actually a force for good. Turning to the data to separate substance from spin, she shows how international trade makes countries richer, raises living standards, benefits consumers, and brings nations together. At a time when borders are closing and the safety of global supply chains is being thrown into question, she outlines a clear agenda to manage globalization more effectively, presenting strategies to equip workers for a modern economy and establish a better partnership between labor and the business community.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674248212
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	09/22/2020
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Kimberly Clausing is Eric M. Zolt Professor of Tax Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law. She is currently the Deputy Assistant Secretary (Tax Analysis) for the US Department of the Treasury. Clausing has written for the New York Times and Fortune and spoken on National Public Radio.

Table of Contents

Part I Introduction 1

1 Making the Global Economy Work for Everyone 3

2 Middle-Class Stagnation and Economic Inequality 16

Part II International Trade 51

3 The Case for International Trade 53

4 Winners and Losers from International Trade 73

5 Trade Politics and Trade Policy 92

Part III International Capital and International Labor 115

6 Who's Afraid of the Trade Deficit? 117

7 Multinational Corporations 138

8 Immigrants, We Get the Job Done! 178

Part IV Securing the Future of the Middle Class 217

9 Equipping Workers for a Modern Global Economy 223

10 A Grand Bargain for Better Tax Policy 240

11 A Better Partnership with the Business Community 268

12 A More Equitable Globalization 288

Notes 303

Acknowledgments 335

Index 339

Editorial Reviews

Amid a growing backlash against international economic interdependence, Clausing makes a strong case in favor of foreign trade in goods and services, the cross-border movement of capital, and immigration. This valuable book amounts to a primer on globalization.

Foreign Affairs - Richard N. Cooper

It is all too easy to blame the recent troubles of advanced economies—including slower growth, rising inequality, and lower social mobility—on economic globalization. Kimberly Clausing’s comprehensive but crystal-clear new book shows that ‘the fault lies not in our stars, but in ourselves’: if only the political will is there, national policy can harness globalization as a force for inclusive growth. This is a message that thoughtful citizens of every political stripe need to absorb.

Maurice Obstfeld

Anyone interested in the biggest economic debates of our time would benefit from reading Open. Kimberly Clausing marshals a wide range of evidence and analysis to address the question of how to advance the prospects of the middle class. Her answer is a combination of timeless truths about the importance of openness updated in often novel ways to address the challenges of today’s global economy.

Jason Furman

Open provides a vitally important corrective to the current populist moment. Clausing brings the underlying economics to life, showing that walls won’t keep prosperity trapped within; they’ll keep new ideas out, deter valuable foreign capital, close off investment opportunities, prevent our businesses from learning from others, and destroy the vigor that comes with a vibrant immigrant community. Most important, Open points the way to a kinder, gentler version of globalization that ensures that the gains are shared by all.

Justin Wolfers

An even-handed, fair-minded and up-to-the-minute primer on some of today’s most important economic debates. In [Clausing’s] consideration of who gains and who loses from economic openness, she makes a stout, evidence-led defense of the worldview disparaged as ‘globalism’ by both the Right and the Left.

Standpoint - Oliver Wiseman

Shows that globalization and free trade can, in fact, be redesigned to help struggling ordinary Americans.

ProMarket

A highly intelligent, fact-based defense of the virtues of an open, competitive economy and society.

Global Public Square (CNN) - Fareed Zakaria

The one thing the American right and left increasingly agree on is that trade, capital flows, and immigration damage many if not most Americans. On the contrary, Professor Clausing of Reed College argues, openness to the world economy is a source of substantial gain. Neither liberal trade nor technological change is the enemy, it is foolish, even malevolent, policies that fail to help people and places to adjust to change and exploit new opportunities.

Financial Times

Clausing, a respected international economist and one of the world’s leading experts on multinational firms’ responses to tax policy, has created a clarion call for a return to reason by polarizing forces on both sides of the political isle. There is something in here for people on both sides to love and to hate, but plenty for everyone to learn.

Katheryn Russ

Global integration will not work if it means local disintegration. Kim Clausing’s important book lays out the economics of globalization and, more important, shows how globalization can be made to work for the vast majority of Americans. I hope the next President of the United States takes its lessons on board.

Lawrence H. Summers

Takes on anti-globalization arguments from the left and right to make the case for open economies, while also investigating the domestic policy interventions required to address inequality in the United States.

War on the Rocks - Rebecca Friedman Lissner

The one thing the American right and left increasingly agree on is that trade, capital flows, and immigration damage many if not most Americans. On the contrary, Professor Clausing of Reed College argues, openness to the world economy is a source of substantial gain. Neither liberal trade nor technological change is the enemy, it is foolish, even malevolent, policies that fail to help people and places to adjust to change and exploit new opportunities.

Financial Times