Grave New World, Stephen D. King
Grave New World, Stephen D. King
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Grave New World
The End of Globalization, the Return of History

Author: Stephen D. King

Narrator: Shaun Grindell

Unabridged: 8 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/23/2017


Synopsis

Globalization, long considered the best route to economic prosperity, is not inevitable. An approach built on the principles of free trade and, since the 1980s, open capital markets, is beginning to fracture. With disappointing growth rates across the Western world, nations are no longer willing to sacrifice national interests for global growth; nor are their leaders able—or willing—to sell the idea of pursuing a global agenda of prosperity to their citizens.

Combining historical analysis with current affairs, economist Stephen D. King provides a provocative and engaging account of why globalization is being rejected, what a world ruled by rival states with conflicting aims might look like, and how the pursuit of nationalist agendas could result in a race to the bottom. King argues that a rejection of globalization and a return to "autarky" will risk economic and political conflict, and he uses lessons from history to gauge how best to avoid the worst possible outcomes.

About Stephen D. King

Stephen D. King is senior economic adviser at HSBC, is a columnist for the Evening Standard, and has also been a specialist adviser to the House of Commons Treasury Committee. He is the author of Losing Control, When the Money Runs Out, and Grave New World.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Daniel on October 22, 2017

This is a book explaining the retreat of globalisation. 1. The elephant graph and the ideas of Milanovic was invoked: the middle class in the West had not seen their life improve at all over the last 30 years. They therefore want to turn back the clock and are voting for nationalist isolationist lea......more

Goodreads review by David on November 02, 2017

King's book falls short in a number of areas: 1. Contempt for people who voted for Trump or Brexit...though he attempts to disguise this 2. The belief, or strong suspicion, that China will rule the world 3. An only partially disguised Leftist, anti-Western (disguised as multiculturalism) diatribe Whe......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on July 23, 2020

Maybe it's unfair to review this book in 2020 - maybe its claims seemed braver or cleverer in 2017 - but for me there was little new or interesting here. The key theses were vague and truistic, and the information supporting them was similarly familiar. The book often lapses into contemporary pundit......more

Goodreads review by Nick on August 10, 2022

Somewhat mediocre Having read Peter Zeihan's books, I was looking forward to this one by King exploring similar ground. Sadly I found he lacked an ability to separate fact and analysis from what appears to be his own essentially status quo preferences. Anything left or right of business as usual is s......more

Goodreads review by Jonas on June 16, 2017

Pretty good book that outlines some of the challenges to the current world order. Suffer from the usual problems for books of its kind: 1) Very superficial when discussing current events and cultures where the writer has little first hand knowledge (of the one I can spotcheck: Japan, France, Germany......more