Exile Economics

What Happens if Globalisation Fails

Ben Chu

$59.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Basic Books
15 May 2025

Comparative politics; International relations; International economics

THE MUST-READ GUIDE TO THE TRADE WAR

'A smart, vivid and humane account of the way the world really works' TIM HARFORD

'This is the book to read if you want to understand what might be about to hit the world economy' EVAN DAVIS

The dangerous race for self-sufficiency has begun. Be warned.

Nations are turning away from each other. Faith in globalisaton has been fatally undermined by the pandemic, the energy crisis, surging trade frictions and swelling great power rivalry. A new vision is vying to replace what we've known for many decades. This vision - Exile Economics - entails a rejection of interdependence, a downgrading of multilateral collaboration and a striving for greater national self-sufficiency. The supporters of this new order argue it will establish genuine security, prosperity and peace. But is this promise achievable? Or a seductive delusion?

Through the stories of globally traded commodities - from silicon to steel and from soybeans to solar panels - economics journalist Ben Chu illustrates the intricate web of interdependence that has come to bind nations together - and underlines the dangers of this new push to isolationism. Exile Economics is an essential guide to this new world in all its promise and peril.

By: Ben Chu
Imprint: Basic Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 240mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781399817165
ISBN 10: 1399817167
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 15 May 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Ben is Policy and Analysis Correspondent at BBC Verify. Previously he was Economics Editor at Newsnight, and at the Independent prior to that. Ben was nominated for Business Journalist of the Year at the 2015 British Journalism Awards and for Business Commentator of the Year at the 2018 Comment Awards. His first book Chinese Whispers: Why Everything You've Heard about China is Wrong was nominated for International Affairs Book of the Year at the Paddy Power Political Book Awards in 2014. Ben was born in Manchester to a Chinese father and British mother. He lives in London with his wife and two children.

Reviews for Exile Economics: What Happens if Globalisation Fails

Ben Chu is a brilliant guide both to economic ideas and to hard economic reality. Exile Economics is a smart, vivid and humane account of the way the world really works - and the dangers that now face us all -- Tim Harford, author of HOW TO MAKE THE WORLD ADD UP In this beautifully written and researched book, Ben Chu lays out clearly and compellingly why seeking self-sufficiently, in everything from food to energy, technology to talent, is more likely to undermine than strengthen growth and security given the interdependency of modern supply chains -- Andy Haldane, former chief economist of the Bank of England & Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Arts Ben Chu is one of the most outstanding economic journalists of our time. He writes with brilliant clarity, diligence and compassion -- Victoria Derbyshire, BBC Newsnight lead presenter