The Race To The Bottom: Why A Worldwide Worker Surplus And Uncontrolled Free Trade Are Sinking American Living Standards

by Alan Tonelson

The Race To The Why A Worldwide Worker Surplus And Uncontrolled Free ...

Genres: Economics

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

While it is a book from 2000, it is THE book that gave the pundits the phrase "Race to the Bottom" when commenting on the USA and the global market. It does take time to read. Not because it is complex but because it gives you so very much to think about and take in. Some things I looked up the modern trends and statistics for today and see that we really have a massive , global, house of cards for trade policy in the USA. No country can come out of the way business and trade and politics are intertwined today. Everyone is racing to the bottom where poverty of the masses will make Third World populations with a wealthy elite out of us all.

It all leads to more and more debt for the First World countries and, while some countries of the Third World get some jobs, they are usually only because their leader keep poverty wages and the trade back and forth is unequal because no one can afford to buy the imports from the USA. So many of the Western world is following our lead and it truly is a house of cards with banks and stock companies getting rich along with certain mega corporations. Meanwhile, their risks are paid off if they lose by taxpayer dollars because in the shadows, our tax dollars have been put forward to cover their loses.

All of this is explained in this book. Favored Nation status carries a lot behind the scenes that most Americans have no clue about. Now that it is 22 years later, it looks even shakier than it did then. I will be looking for anything more recent this author has to say about it. But when it all crashes, even if only partly, the recession that will hit the USA is not one most people will be ready for.

[Lauryn .A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that gave us the phrase "race to the bottom." Tonelson was predictive when he wrote it. Now he looks prophetic. He explains how the end of the 1990s boom led to a no win global competition where countries with the lowest wages and toughest repression of unions win investment from the United States and Europe. He shows how the entry of China, India, and Mexico into the global market accelerated the erosion of wages and labor standards around the world. He also explains why this low wage competition is hitting not just sectors like apparel and toys but also many of America's highest wage industries like aerospace and software. The book is well researched and clearly argued. It took me a while to read because there is so much to absorb, but it was worth every page. Tonelson outlines the real decisions Washington needs to make to ensure long term prosperity for the U.S. and the rest of the world. Essential reading for anyone interested in trade policy and the future of American prosperity.

This book was written in 2000, but reading it today feels like reading a prophecy. Tonelson explains how uncontrolled free trade and a worldwide worker surplus are sinking American living standards. He shows how the global competition for the lowest wages and weakest labor laws is hurting not just manufacturing but also high wage industries like aerospace and software. The book is not complex, but it gives you so much to think about. I found myself looking up current statistics and realizing how much worse things have gotten since it was published.

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tonelson's work was predictive when it was written. Now it seems that it was prophetic.