The Book Prize Index

Trade Wars Are Class Wars: How Rising Inequality Distorts the Global Economy and Threatens International Peace

Matthew C. Klein, Michael Pettis

A provocative look at how today’s trade conflicts are caused by governments promoting the interests of elites at the expense of workers Trade disputes are usually understood as conflicts between countries with competing national interests, but as Matthew C. Klein and Michael Pettis show in this book, they are often the unexpected result of domestic political choices to serve the interests of the rich at the expense of workers and ordinary retirees. Klein and Pettis trace the origins of today’s trade wars to decisions made by politicians and business leaders in China, Europe, and the United States over the past thirty years. Across the world, the rich have prospered while workers can no longer afford to buy what they produce, have lost their jobs, or have been forced into higher levels of debt.

Politics & GovernmentPolitics & Government · medium confidencePolitics & Government81 signalsLlm Classifier: Politics & Government -> Politics & GovernmentKeyword Classifier: American History -> American HistoryKeyword Classifier: Business & Economics -> Business & EconomicsBusiness, Capitalism & CorporationsClass, Poverty & InequalityLabor, Work & OrganizingMoney, Markets & Economic Policy

Award History

1 wins · 1 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
Lionel Gelber Prize: International AffairsMajor2021WinnerSecondary source
View all award history (1)
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies

This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.

  1. 01 Central figures

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  2. 02 Central places

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

    These suggestions did not meet the normal display threshold and are more likely to be wrong.

    • China40%
    • Europe38%
    • United States38%

  3. 03 Suggested argument

    Contemporary trade wars are often driven less by national interests than by domestic political choices that serve elites at the expense of workers and retirees, undermining economic welfare and international peace.

    Model confidence 72%

  4. 04 Reading orientation

    45 / 100 academic

    Trade / academic crossover

    An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.

Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 74%.