The United States is entering a period of profound uncertainty in the world political economy--an uncertainty which is threatening the liberal economic order that its own statesmen created at the end of the Second World War. The storm surrounding this threat has been ignited by an issue that has divided Americans since the nation's founding: international trade. Is America better off under a liberal trade regime, or would protectionism be more beneficial? The issue divided Alexander Hamilton from Thomas Jefferson, the agrarian south from the industrializing north, and progressives from robber barons in the Gilded Age. In our own times, it has pitted anti-globalization activists and manufacturing workers against both multinational firms and the bulk of the economics profession. Ambassador C. Donald Johnson's The Wealth of a Nation is an authoritative history of the politics of trade in America from the Revolution to the Trump era. Johnson begins by charting the rise and fall of the U.S. protectionist system from the time of Alexander Hamilton to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930. Challenges to protectionist dominance were frequent and often serious, but the protectionist regime only faded in the wake of the Great Depression. After World War II, America was the primary architect of the liberal rules-based economic order that has dominated the globe for over half a century. Recent years, however, have seen a swelling anti-free trade movement that casts the postwar liberal regime as anti-worker, pro-capital, and--in Donald Trump's view--even anti-American. In this riveting history, Johnson emphasizes the benefits of the postwar free trade regime, but focuses in particular on how it has attempted to advance workers' rights. This analysis of the evolution of American trade policy stresses the critical importance of the multilateral trading system's survival and defines the central political struggle between business and labor in measuring the wealth of a nation.

About the Author
C. Donald Johnson is Director Emeritus of the Dean Rusk International Law Center at the University of Georgia School of Law, where he was on the faculty for eleven years and taught international trade law in China and Geneva. From 1998 through 2000, as an Ambassador in the Office of United States Trade Representative, he served as the Chief Textile Negotiator during the negotiation of U.S.-China WTO Accession Agreement. From 1993 to 1995, he represented the 10th district of Georgia as a Member of Congress, where he focused on national security and international economic policy, including NAFTA and the WTO implementing legislation. Johnson also served in the Georgia State Senate from 1987 to 1992, where he was chairman of the Appropriations Committee. He served on the trade staff of the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee during consideration of the Trade Act of 1974. He holds a Master of Laws degree from the London School of Economics. http://www.cdonaldjohnson.com

Reviews
Johnson, who worked as a trade official in president Bill Clinton's administration and then as a lawyer, set out to chronicle the central role trade politics have always played in the United States. He largely succeeds...with the Trump administration starting trade wars and bringing protectionism back, the book couldn't be timelier. * Foreign Policy *
Densely detailed study of trade agreements across the span of American history, written by a former U.S. trade representative...[F]or students of international trade, macroeconomics, and governance-another theme is the struggle among various branches of government to regulates foreign trade-this will be a useful reference....Timely... * Kirkus *
Johnson provides reassuring evidence that the country's current politico-economic climate is not unique, or even new, reminding readers that trade debates date to the founding fathers, as do protectionist movements....This thoughtful, eloquent history also doubles as a plea for improved public understanding of a vital issue. * Publishers Weekly *
Don Johnson has used his talents and vast experiences representing our nation to achieve an important historical study of trade policy. There are many perspectives on the lessons to be learned from that history, and it is vital that we debate those differences as we confront the challenges of globalization. * Sander Levin, U.S. Congressman of Michigan and former Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee *
This splendid book covers the politics of American trade policy from the country's beginnings through Trump. Johnson provides a great overview of a fascinating subject. * Douglas Irwin, John French Professor of Economics, Dartmouth College, and author of Clashing over Commerce: A History of US Trade Policy *
Johnson offers numerous biographical sketches and a readable historical narrative with an increasing focus on movements, legal battles, and political pressure groups as he moves toward the present. Readers looking for current topics will take interest in his detailed discussion of labor issues as a central concern of trade politics in the late 20th and early 21st centuries and the attempts by pro-trade politicians to satisfy the interests of an anti-trade labor movement. * J. Gerber, emeritus, San Diego State University, CHOICE *
An unabashed believer in economic liberalism, C. Don Johnson warns us of the dangers of Donald Trump's protectionist policies. By exploring the history of protectionism since the nation's founding, the rise of the modern-day liberal order, and its potential demise under Trump, this former congressman, trade negotiator, and lawyer lays out a story designed to reach a wide audience. * Thomas Zeiler, The Historian *



Book Information
ISBN 9780197619124
Author C. Donald Johnson
Format Paperback
Page Count 664
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 953g
Dimensions(mm) 157mm * 229mm * 41mm