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The Global Class War: How America's Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future - and What It Will Take to Win It Back
Class warfare, not economic fate or national interest, best explains why Republican and Democratic leaders have encouraged the outsourcing, trade deficits, and energy dependence that are rushing America toward an inevitable decline in living standards. Jeff Faux breaks through the current stale debate with a compelling case for making globalization responsive to democracy, including an inspiring proposal for a radically revised NAFTA. Full of new insights, political drama, and crisp analysis, The Global Class War argues that only by confronting the realities of the global market will Americans —as well as the citizens of other nations—gain control of their economic future. Conventional wisdom portrays globalization as competition among countries—America versus Mexico or China or Europe. But today the rich and powerful of every nation have more in common with each other than they do with their fellow citizens who must work for a living. What’s good for General Motors—or Microsoft, Exxon, or Wal-Mart—is no longer good for America. In The Global Class War, Jeff Faux argues that the politics of the new world market is dominated by a virtual “Party of Davos,” the globe-trotting network of corporate investor and CEOs and the politicians and journalists who work on their behalf. Clinton and his treasury secretary, Robert Rubin, and Bush and his defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, may use different strategies, but they promote the same globalization agenda in which the benefits go to America’s corporate investors—and the costs are paid by ordinary Americans in outsourced jobs, military casualties, and an unsustainable foreign debt.
304 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 23, 2010
In this book Jeff Faux of the Economic Policy Institute, who was heavily involved in the fight against NAFTA in the early 1990's, surveys the state of the US and global economies in light of the trade liberalization of the past couple of decades. Not surprisingly he finds that trade has benefited corporate CEOs and investors at the expense of workers. This has been accomplished, he argues, not only by moving production to countries with low-cost labor but by outlawing individual countries from placing labor and environmental constraints on investment. Faux skirts the edge of conspiracy theorizing, stating (correctly, I think) that no explicit conspiracy is needed when global elites already communicate in their preferred media (The Economist, anyone?) and at meetings like Davos. His analysis is depressing and sometimes long-winded, but mostly accurate.
It's interesting to test the author's predictions of declining living standards and spending in light of the five years since he wrote them. The US military has already pulled back slightly from its role as the world's policeman, abolishing the Joint Forces Command earlier this month and pulling out of Iraq last week without a clear victory (not that such a thing could even be defined). There has, in fact, been talk of raising the retirement age to 70 (ha, ha) to keep the Social Security system solvent. Living standards have fallen, in ways that are visible and benign (the de-escalation of the luxury-bling arms race in favor of beards, folk music and bicycles) and less so (the growing number of families making hardship withdrawals from their retirement funds to pay mortgages and tuition). And immigrant-bashing has, in fact, exploded. But there have also been a few changes for the better since 2005: one is the health-care reform bill that does something (not a lot, but something) to control costs; another is a cultural and political backlash against Wall Street and its interests--American voters finally realize that what is good for General Motors is probably the opposite of what is good for America. Now that GW Bush is out of the White House at least we no longer have to cringe from the eyes of the world. The increased class conflict predicted by Faux has so far been masked by Tea-Party stupidity and Muslim-bashing. But it's early days still.
Toward the end I had to skim a bit because I found the author's proposed solution of making NAFTA into an EU equivalent, as a way of suddenly taking on European social-democratic political values, to be a loopy exercise in wishful thinking. A values transplant would be nice, but I'm not holding my breath.
One final note: I live just outside Washington, DC, and I couldn't help noticing that my library copy of this book had business cards in it for Rep. Bill Pascrell, Democrat of New Jersey, and an aide of his named Kristen. So the author has the ear of Washington--at least two (or four?) of them.
It's interesting to test the author's predictions of declining living standards and spending in light of the five years since he wrote them. The US military has already pulled back slightly from its role as the world's policeman, abolishing the Joint Forces Command earlier this month and pulling out of Iraq last week without a clear victory (not that such a thing could even be defined). There has, in fact, been talk of raising the retirement age to 70 (ha, ha) to keep the Social Security system solvent. Living standards have fallen, in ways that are visible and benign (the de-escalation of the luxury-bling arms race in favor of beards, folk music and bicycles) and less so (the growing number of families making hardship withdrawals from their retirement funds to pay mortgages and tuition). And immigrant-bashing has, in fact, exploded. But there have also been a few changes for the better since 2005: one is the health-care reform bill that does something (not a lot, but something) to control costs; another is a cultural and political backlash against Wall Street and its interests--American voters finally realize that what is good for General Motors is probably the opposite of what is good for America. Now that GW Bush is out of the White House at least we no longer have to cringe from the eyes of the world. The increased class conflict predicted by Faux has so far been masked by Tea-Party stupidity and Muslim-bashing. But it's early days still.
Toward the end I had to skim a bit because I found the author's proposed solution of making NAFTA into an EU equivalent, as a way of suddenly taking on European social-democratic political values, to be a loopy exercise in wishful thinking. A values transplant would be nice, but I'm not holding my breath.
One final note: I live just outside Washington, DC, and I couldn't help noticing that my library copy of this book had business cards in it for Rep. Bill Pascrell, Democrat of New Jersey, and an aide of his named Kristen. So the author has the ear of Washington--at least two (or four?) of them.
March 31, 2012
The financial elites of various countries have more in common with each other than they do with the citizens of their own country. So their activities are geared toward furthering the interests of that class even if it is to the detriment of their own country. If it goes belly up, they can just move elsewhere and leave the little people to deal with the wreckage.
June 16, 2012
Faux is not an academic--he is an anti-globalization activists although he would not be found in the streets of Seattle or Toronto during an archetypal clash between police and demonstrators as the G-8 comes to town. The story he tells isn't new--finance capital is loyal to itself and not to any of the states in which it may have branches. Risks have been socialized and profits privatized throughout the world and there is little ultimate difference between the privatization of the Mexican telephone system (Carlos Slim), Foxconn moving iPad production from China to Brazil or forced child labor on cocoa plantations in Sierra Leone.
"The Global Class War" focuses on the North American Free Trade Agreement. Faux is an expert on the politics of its passage in Canada, Mexico and the U.S and the dismal economic returns in each of these countries after the implementation of NAFTA and he tells the story very well. It is a bleak tale.
One of the difficulties in writing a more or less ripped from the headlines book is that events after it is published can make much of it invalid or at least suspect. This happens here in the second part of the book where Faux makes some policy recommendations, chief among them the creation of a true North American union much like the European Union with its common currency, open borders and strict rules regarding safety and health of workers, environmental protection and even a bit of human rights. While this looked great in 2006 when the book was published, trying to copy the EU and the Euro is a non-starter today, something like moving into a house that is on fire.
"The Global Class War" focuses on the North American Free Trade Agreement. Faux is an expert on the politics of its passage in Canada, Mexico and the U.S and the dismal economic returns in each of these countries after the implementation of NAFTA and he tells the story very well. It is a bleak tale.
One of the difficulties in writing a more or less ripped from the headlines book is that events after it is published can make much of it invalid or at least suspect. This happens here in the second part of the book where Faux makes some policy recommendations, chief among them the creation of a true North American union much like the European Union with its common currency, open borders and strict rules regarding safety and health of workers, environmental protection and even a bit of human rights. While this looked great in 2006 when the book was published, trying to copy the EU and the Euro is a non-starter today, something like moving into a house that is on fire.
January 6, 2013
تلك هي الكتب التي لا تلقى رواجا لدى قارئنا العربي، كما يليق بأمة مهزومة تدعي رغبة في التقدم ولا تسعى إليه بغير خلع المسميات المستعارة على القصائد الركيكة!
ربما لا يكون الكتاب على خطى كتب مثل "عقيدة الصدمة" أو "انهيار الرأسمالية" أو "قاتل اقتصادي"، يبدو لي أقرب لنوعية "التسعينات الهادرة" فهو لا يقدم ادعاء معرفيا شاملا حول العالم كما يوحي العنوان، انه يقدم المثال الأمريكي الشمالي والثمن الذي يدفعه المواطن. العلاقة المركبة بين ثلاث دول تمثل منوظمات سياسية واجتماعية مختلفة.. كندا، المكسيك والولايات المتحدة
كيف تنجح النخب الطاغية على استباحة كل ما هو جميل في الانسان؟ هذا ليس سؤالا نوجهه لنعومي كلاين حين تتحدث عن التعذيب في الدول الكولنيالية، ولا لشتاينجر وهو يسرد مآسي ألمانيا بعد جدار برلين، انه سؤال للأمريكي الذي تمغنط دماغه على بطاقة صراف آلي
أيمكنك سرد أمثلة تشبه رئيس وزراء المكسيك في الوطن العربي. لن يعجزكم ذلك اذا كنتم في دول مثل الأردن أو مصر أو السعودية أو.. هناك قائمة باستثناءات نادرة بين المحيط والخليج!
للحرب على سوريا وما يسمى الربيع العربي مساحة لا يمكن استنتاجها من قائمة الأمثلة الأشد تركيزا التي قدمها لنا جيف فو الذي يصر بطرافة أنه ليس اشتراكيا ولا يساريا حتى رغم ان اي نتيجة يصل لها كحل لا يمكنها الا ان تقودنا لليسار وضرورة الأمة الاشتراكية:)
ربما لا يكون الكتاب على خطى كتب مثل "عقيدة الصدمة" أو "انهيار الرأسمالية" أو "قاتل اقتصادي"، يبدو لي أقرب لنوعية "التسعينات الهادرة" فهو لا يقدم ادعاء معرفيا شاملا حول العالم كما يوحي العنوان، انه يقدم المثال الأمريكي الشمالي والثمن الذي يدفعه المواطن. العلاقة المركبة بين ثلاث دول تمثل منوظمات سياسية واجتماعية مختلفة.. كندا، المكسيك والولايات المتحدة
كيف تنجح النخب الطاغية على استباحة كل ما هو جميل في الانسان؟ هذا ليس سؤالا نوجهه لنعومي كلاين حين تتحدث عن التعذيب في الدول الكولنيالية، ولا لشتاينجر وهو يسرد مآسي ألمانيا بعد جدار برلين، انه سؤال للأمريكي الذي تمغنط دماغه على بطاقة صراف آلي
أيمكنك سرد أمثلة تشبه رئيس وزراء المكسيك في الوطن العربي. لن يعجزكم ذلك اذا كنتم في دول مثل الأردن أو مصر أو السعودية أو.. هناك قائمة باستثناءات نادرة بين المحيط والخليج!
للحرب على سوريا وما يسمى الربيع العربي مساحة لا يمكن استنتاجها من قائمة الأمثلة الأشد تركيزا التي قدمها لنا جيف فو الذي يصر بطرافة أنه ليس اشتراكيا ولا يساريا حتى رغم ان اي نتيجة يصل لها كحل لا يمكنها الا ان تقودنا لليسار وضرورة الأمة الاشتراكية:)
March 24, 2008
choice quote from this fine book:
Introduction, p.4 “Although there are some substantial differences between the core leadership of the Democratic and Republican parties on domestic matters, and some tactical differences on foreign policy, the two have worked hand in hand to help so-called American corporations disconnect themselves from their obligations to the American people. Led by Robert Rubin, the Clinton administration used the economic instruments of free trade, financial deregulation , and the leverage of the the International Monetary Fund and other financial institutions to further the world strategies of transnational banks and manufacturers. Led by Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, the Bush administration continued these policies and expanded the use of the U.S. military to extend investment opportunities at home and in the Middle East.”
Introduction, p.4 “Although there are some substantial differences between the core leadership of the Democratic and Republican parties on domestic matters, and some tactical differences on foreign policy, the two have worked hand in hand to help so-called American corporations disconnect themselves from their obligations to the American people. Led by Robert Rubin, the Clinton administration used the economic instruments of free trade, financial deregulation , and the leverage of the the International Monetary Fund and other financial institutions to further the world strategies of transnational banks and manufacturers. Led by Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, the Bush administration continued these policies and expanded the use of the U.S. military to extend investment opportunities at home and in the Middle East.”
March 18, 2017
Consider that as I write this review this book is 9 years old.
This book is awfully accurate, awfully scary, and awfully predictive. Much of what he predicted 9 years ago has come or is coming true. He predicts the backlash that has elected Mr. Trump. He predicts the backlash to NAFTA and the vanishing jobs. He clearly disliked NAFTA from before it was done and that of course was not fashionable at the time.
His discussions about what has gone on, is going on, and is going to go on, appear both to be mostly on target as of today. That is what makes this a scary book because while he does not provide a lot of specifics about dealing with what is going on, what he does provide has pretty much not happened so far; and consequently the negative things he is talking about are continuing apace.
This book is awfully accurate, awfully scary, and awfully predictive. Much of what he predicted 9 years ago has come or is coming true. He predicts the backlash that has elected Mr. Trump. He predicts the backlash to NAFTA and the vanishing jobs. He clearly disliked NAFTA from before it was done and that of course was not fashionable at the time.
His discussions about what has gone on, is going on, and is going to go on, appear both to be mostly on target as of today. That is what makes this a scary book because while he does not provide a lot of specifics about dealing with what is going on, what he does provide has pretty much not happened so far; and consequently the negative things he is talking about are continuing apace.
May 19, 2025
This book has some amazing revelations, but there are two big problems. First, the pace and style repress the interest of the reader, at least this one. So even as each fact or incident separately is worth your attention, your attention flags between moments. The connective tissue is weak.
The second problem is the utopian conclusion. So much really trenchant observation about the nature of NAFTA and WTO and all the Party of Davos shenanigans...and then to imagine that the elite of these three North American countries are going to somehow create a North American Union, or that the nationalism of the populaces would permit it either???
Still, there are impressive prophesies. To predict in 2006 the rise of protectionism? To predict that the US would start to chafe at paying for Europe's defense so intensely that it might leave NATO? These are impressive.
The triumph of the book is the passages that show how the elite of the USA have been screwing the rest of us for decades. Very fine research and writing in those sections.
The second problem is the utopian conclusion. So much really trenchant observation about the nature of NAFTA and WTO and all the Party of Davos shenanigans...and then to imagine that the elite of these three North American countries are going to somehow create a North American Union, or that the nationalism of the populaces would permit it either???
Still, there are impressive prophesies. To predict in 2006 the rise of protectionism? To predict that the US would start to chafe at paying for Europe's defense so intensely that it might leave NATO? These are impressive.
The triumph of the book is the passages that show how the elite of the USA have been screwing the rest of us for decades. Very fine research and writing in those sections.
December 10, 2014
Not to worry! Based upon the title of Jeff Faux’s book, you need not assume that he is calling for any global war between the economic classes. No, not at all. He is merely reporting that the transnational elite are already waging the war and they are winning. What seems to be in agreement with Freeland’s book “The Plutocrats,” Faux is saying that the transnational elites do not restrict themselves to supporting the national interests of their home country (nor of their business or financial headquartered country). They have removed themselves from those confines and {I’m extrapolating to my own conclusion} they can play the nations against each other based on their own transnational goals.
Faux demonstrates how the constitutional characteristics (“…entrench certain inviolate principles or norms that are above the reach of any national legislature to alter, set limits on the behavior of governments; define rights to citizenship; establish a judicial system to interpret its own text in the case of conflicts and provide for enforcement of the court’s decisions.”) of NAFTA and World Trade Organization agreements for free trade across national boundaries have allowed the transnational elite to override the standards set by different nations, substituting the standards of their own companies as they influence the bureaucratically directed (non-democratic) newly-invented supranational governance. The transnationals still need some measure of governance to settle issues between their companies and their own interests, but with NAFTA and WTO they have superseded so many national interests.
Labor unions, consumer protection agencies, dissenters to the Davos culture and “the rest of us” can not follow the transnationals through the possibilities of crossing national boundaries, so their financial advantage over “the rest of us” is unassailable.
I love how Faux introduced Immanuel Kant into this discussion, recalling Kant’s prediction that any global government would be too tyrannical to be worth the effort of supporting it. Transnationals today have created an operational global government by removing any democratic nature to it, and superseding the still-standing national governments.
At several points of argument, Faux points to how these transnationals would not have been able to complete their maneuvers through international trade agreements without the concession and agreement from the US Congress and political elites. This calls to mind for me one quote from some time ago, “I don’t want to eliminate the federal government, I simply want it to be small enough that I would be able to drown it in a bathtub.” Could such a political impulse among American actors be coming into play to advance the needs of the transnational elite, allowing them better opportunities to forge their free-trade agreements between nations and then bypass national standards in hopes of making all the more money?
I find it odd that Faux was so opposed to the growth in power among the transnationals and yet he wants there to be a stronger bond in trade agreements within continents. The transnationals have freed themselves from geographic obligations, and yet Faux wants to the rest of us to battle them by better securing ourselves with the fortunes of our nations’ neighbors. Do we not need to pull those transnationals back to earth, and have them show some commitment to national interests, have their rate of growing personal wealth slow down, until the rest of us can catch up with their futuristic visions and lives of living beyond any national borders?
He does a nice job in describing the European Union as a partial fix, protecting many nations against the exploits of the transnationals by helping all those nations in that trade agreement to rise with their common tide. (Unfortunately, his discussion of Ireland in this section was premature and offered a view before the Great Recession turned Ireland into a financial maelstrom.) His ideas for NAFTA to become a quasi-EU is riddled with problems, especially since the transnationals seem to have so much more influence, there are only three nations in that “continent” and other nations have staked out very low labor costs to compete with the US, Canada and Mexico. His solution does not seem to apply.
Still, I definitely need to find out what Faux is doing currently and to see if his predictions about the US account deficit came true. I also expect to find out about the latest work of Leslie Sklair.
Faux demonstrates how the constitutional characteristics (“…entrench certain inviolate principles or norms that are above the reach of any national legislature to alter, set limits on the behavior of governments; define rights to citizenship; establish a judicial system to interpret its own text in the case of conflicts and provide for enforcement of the court’s decisions.”) of NAFTA and World Trade Organization agreements for free trade across national boundaries have allowed the transnational elite to override the standards set by different nations, substituting the standards of their own companies as they influence the bureaucratically directed (non-democratic) newly-invented supranational governance. The transnationals still need some measure of governance to settle issues between their companies and their own interests, but with NAFTA and WTO they have superseded so many national interests.
Labor unions, consumer protection agencies, dissenters to the Davos culture and “the rest of us” can not follow the transnationals through the possibilities of crossing national boundaries, so their financial advantage over “the rest of us” is unassailable.
I love how Faux introduced Immanuel Kant into this discussion, recalling Kant’s prediction that any global government would be too tyrannical to be worth the effort of supporting it. Transnationals today have created an operational global government by removing any democratic nature to it, and superseding the still-standing national governments.
At several points of argument, Faux points to how these transnationals would not have been able to complete their maneuvers through international trade agreements without the concession and agreement from the US Congress and political elites. This calls to mind for me one quote from some time ago, “I don’t want to eliminate the federal government, I simply want it to be small enough that I would be able to drown it in a bathtub.” Could such a political impulse among American actors be coming into play to advance the needs of the transnational elite, allowing them better opportunities to forge their free-trade agreements between nations and then bypass national standards in hopes of making all the more money?
I find it odd that Faux was so opposed to the growth in power among the transnationals and yet he wants there to be a stronger bond in trade agreements within continents. The transnationals have freed themselves from geographic obligations, and yet Faux wants to the rest of us to battle them by better securing ourselves with the fortunes of our nations’ neighbors. Do we not need to pull those transnationals back to earth, and have them show some commitment to national interests, have their rate of growing personal wealth slow down, until the rest of us can catch up with their futuristic visions and lives of living beyond any national borders?
He does a nice job in describing the European Union as a partial fix, protecting many nations against the exploits of the transnationals by helping all those nations in that trade agreement to rise with their common tide. (Unfortunately, his discussion of Ireland in this section was premature and offered a view before the Great Recession turned Ireland into a financial maelstrom.) His ideas for NAFTA to become a quasi-EU is riddled with problems, especially since the transnationals seem to have so much more influence, there are only three nations in that “continent” and other nations have staked out very low labor costs to compete with the US, Canada and Mexico. His solution does not seem to apply.
Still, I definitely need to find out what Faux is doing currently and to see if his predictions about the US account deficit came true. I also expect to find out about the latest work of Leslie Sklair.
October 26, 2010
Ouch. The main idea here is that the wealthy elite of different nations used to be pitted against each other in the struggle for financial dominance and control; as a result, they needed to ally with the labor forces in their respective nations in order to successfully compete with one another. But not anymore. Technology allows the global elite to ally with each other against the power of labor throughout the world, enriching themselves at the expense of those who work and are now pitted against each other in global competition for jobs. Example? Faux writes at length about NAFTA, and the alliance of Mexican, American, and Canadian elites who all benefitted from this trade accord. He makes it sound like a very nasty, dirty, if not corrupt business. That giant sucking sound Ross Perot referred to turns out not to be jobs leaving (not only,) but the material benefits of increased productivity and "free trade" siphoning straight into the bank accounts of the global financial elite. Rough stuff.
Read
August 11, 2012A very important book to read Years ago I read global reach where this Neo conservative plan was laced out. One chapter that really hit me was called the Latinamericanization of north America. this books explains how parties put in power by the center left made globalization easier. who do you vote for? these corporations are getting away with murder at the livelihood of the middle-class. Canada waz mostly middle-class. This book's solutions do not seem likely.The problem is not the extremists religious or otherwise. the problem is that democracy is not working. these corporations are playing fiddle with our societies.
February 20, 2013
Have followed Jeff Faux for years. My copy of "The Global Class War" is peppered with so many flags to mark the "good stuff," I'd have done better to put a Post-it flag on the cover. It's all "good stuff."
Want to read
July 3, 2007This is a friend of mine from DC, haven't read yet...
June 1, 2008
Outlines globalization's negative exploitative aspects. Perfectly demonstrates the cycle of wealth consolidation and how it perpetuates, by the end you'll depise people with giraffe money.
Want to read
April 16, 2009Can't wait to read this, sounds like it will have actual data and info to understand explicitly and consciously what I have felt to be true at a gut level for a long time.
September 5, 2009
Good shit.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews