The Unfair Trade: how our broken global financial system destroys the middle class

Description

The Unfair Trade is a riveting expose of the global financial system, whose flaws are the source of our economic malaise. More than ever before, our livelihoods are beholden to its imbalances and inequities, which have already taken down the economies of Iceland, Ireland, Spain, and Greece. With a combination of financial acumen and narrative-driven reporting, veteran Australian journalist Michael Casey brings a unique human angle to this worldwide phenomenon. He shows, for example, how high-wage 'fly in, fly out' workers and a real-estate bubble are both part of the two-speed Australian economy being distorted by its reliance on Chinese demand for its mineral resources. He illustrates how an American homeowner's life is shaped by the same economic and social policies that determine the working conditions of migrant workers in China. And he explains how the collapse of the factory system in northern Mexico has enabled drug cartels to recruit thousands of young men into their gangs. Casey shows that our economic problems are largely caused by political agendas that prevent the free market from encouraging fair competition. Until governments work together to make this trillion-dollar system more efficient - until China removes incentives for its citizens to save excessively, for example, or the US ends the de facto subsidies enjoyed by politically powerful banks - the global playing field will remain lopsided, job creation will lag, and our economies will be vulnerable to new crises.

Michael Casey is the author of Che's Afterlife: The Legacy of an Image, a history of and cultural commentary on Alberto Korda's famous image of Che Guevara, the world's most reproduced photographic image.