Trade Is Not a Four-Letter Word

November 11, 2019
Hochberg, a former chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, aims to “demystify, debunk, elucidate, and enliven” the issue of global trade in this quip-filled and illuminating debut. He begins with a glossary of economic terms, then sketches the history of American trade before correcting such myths as the assumption that trade deficits matter. Hochberg justifies his pro-trade stance by analyzing commodities including taco salad, which he says demonstrates the importance of global supply chains and the value of consumer variety, and a U.S. education, which he claims has “helped create a pipeline of American values and international friendship with the rest of the world.” Hochberg acknowledges that globalism has resulted in the loss of some American jobs to foreign workers. To mitigate such outsourcing, he advocates a universal basic income, worker retraining programs, and a stronger social safety net. Hochberg hails the “flexible, adaptable work opportunities” created by such companies as Uber and Airbnb without fully addressing the limits of the gig economy, but he balances capitalist cheerleading with an acknowledgment that “trade creates winners and losers.” Lay readers looking to reach a more informed opinion on trade policy would do well to pick up this nuanced and approachable account.

November 1, 2019
Tariffs be damned: Global trade is a net good, and any consumer should be grateful for it. Hochberg, former president of the Export-Import Bank, served as CEO of Lillian Vernon Corporation, the firm his mother founded "at our kitchen table." In working there, he writes, he and his family were hot on the heels of Richard Nixon in opening up to China, where, though modernization had yet to hit in 1972, they offered products and materials that were unavailable or much more expensive in the West. Making China a modern villain in the trade wars is misguided, he argues. Granted that "with the largest workforce on the planet, massive state-owned enterprises, and a desire to dominate high-value manufacturing sectors, it took very little time for China to become a formidable competitor for export business"; competition is what it's all about. Hochberg surveys several products and categories to make his case: Everyone like tacos, after all, but the components of tacos alone reflect the interplay of trade, with parts coming from nearly every continent. Just so, many people would be lost without their smartphones, which are made from materials gathered in Africa, designed in the U.S. and Europe, and manufactured in China and other Asian nations. The author digs deeper: Consider that half a century ago, all 50 states found it necessary to pass "lemon laws" to protect consumers from badly made cars; now such things are objects of antiquity given that stiff global competition has made every automaker up its game. There are disincentives aplenty, on the other hand, for "nativizing" trade. One of Hochberg's most pointed examples is the Foxconn plant that will open next year in Wisconsin through the largest subsidy (at about $4 billion) ever given to a firm and at the cost of seizing private property through eminent domain and breaking all sorts of environmental laws "in the hope that this Taiwanese company will prove to be a good bet." A rousing, well-argued defense of global trade in a time of isolationist entrenchment.

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Starred review from January 1, 2020

A cornerstone economic policy of the Trump administration is a reduction of trade while erecting barriers to global trading. To counter that stance, Hochberg, chairman and president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States from 2009-2017, has written an expert defense of trade while also explaining the myths that have clouded our understanding of the ways in which trade fits into everyday life. Hochberg argues that trade has secured the U.S. an eminent position in the world, and generally has improved Americans' lives. He considers how trade affects products such as the avocado, smartphone, and automobile positively and negatively. He also examines soft power products, such as entertainment and education, and perceives these intangible goods as America's greatest exports. The author distills for readers the fact that there will always be winners and losers in trade relationships, but that trade supports a greater good for American society--and this point needs to be better understood. VERDICT Hochberg has written an accessible, necessary book that will increase our understanding of trade and economic policies and the ways in which they impact our daily lives. Highly recommended.--Jacob Sherman, John Peace Lib., Univ. of Texas at San Antonio

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2019
It says everything about how willfully blind Americans have become to, say, the cars we drive, the food we eat, and the clothes we wear that a case has to be made for the value of foreign trade. But Hochberg, head of the Export-Import Bank from 2009 to 2017, cheerfully takes it head-on, first demolishing a set of myths finding currency in today's conversation, among them: China is always the villain in global trade, bilateral trade deficits matter, tariffs are paid by foreigners, trade wars work, and the less we import, the better off we are. He highlights six invaluable products that embody our country's trade interdependence, including our diverse food system, the most American car on the road (the Honda Odyssey, 75 percent American-made), our computers and smartphones, and, intriguingly, our educational system. He also takes criticisms head-on, agreeing with many of them?including the fact that there really are losers in the bargain?while offering mitigations. Oddly, he ignores the most damning criticism: the huge carbon footprint produced by global trade. Still, an approachable, well-argued work.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)