Robert D. Atkinson and Stephen Ezell
Introduction
From the fall of the Soviet Union to the 2016 election of President Trump, America rode the globalization horse, leading the charge for the near complete global integration of finance, investment, and trade. In this utopia, economic borders would be a thing of the past, capital would find its highest and most efficient use anywhere around the world, and the globe would be awash with win-win outcomes. Sure, some workers might get hurt, but they could move frictionlessly to thriving communities and “learn to code” or install solar panels and weatherize homes. It was America’s destined role to lead the world to this brighter place. Those who didn’t embrace that view were, well, beyond the pale and accused of being ignorant of basic economic principles.1
It is easy to look back with incredulity—and for some, even disdain—but this would forget the heady days after the long Cold War, and the belief in, as former U.S. State Department official Francis Fukuyama called it, “The End of History.”2 Or as former Intel CEO Craig Barrett stated, “Capitalism has won and economy trumps all going forward.”3 With the exception of a few malcontents, who didn’t agree? Indeed, it was, and for many still is, a simple, seductive, and sublime conception.
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