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    The Retreat of Western Liberalism
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    The Retreat of Western Liberalism
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    The Retreat of Western Liberalism
    Ebook228 pages3 hours

    The Retreat of Western Liberalism

    By Edward Luce

    4/5

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    About this ebook

  • One of the Washington Post’s 50 notable works of nonfiction in 2017. An Amazon Top 100 book of the year. A Financial Times and Economist best book of the year. Selected for a Kindle Daily Deal in January 2018.
  • In the run-up to hardcover publication, Luce published an op-ed on the British election in the New York Times (international edition and online). The Retreat of Western Liberalism was mentioned by David Remnick in his New Yorker piece on Trump's first 100 days and in a David Brooks New York Times column, as well as in the New York Times's "12 New Books We Recommend This Week" piece.
  • A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice. An Amazon Best Book of the Month in the history category for June 2017. One of Amazon's best books of the year so far for 2017.
  • Edward Luce took a sabbatical from his post as the chief U.S. columnist at the Financial Times to write this book, which we are publishing within the Trump administration's first six months. The Retreat of Western Liberalism gives an important and timely interpretative framework for major recent events, including Trump's election, Brexit, and the authoritarian version of national destiny which is staging a powerful global comeback.
  • Luce takes the historical long view in this book, looking at China and India's pre-industrial world prominence; the rise of western economies, values, and an almost holy vision of progress; and the current "rise of the rest" which has corresponded to a decline in western economic and political superiority.
  • Luce's 2012 book Time to Start Thinking was reviewed on the front cover of the New York Times Book Review and was named an Editors' Choice. It was widely and positively reviewed in major news and business outlets, and we can expect the same level of coverage for the new book.
  • Luce (@EdwardGLuce) has a substantial Twitter platform, with 13,000 followers.
    • LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAtlantic Monthly Press
    Release dateJun 13, 2017
    ISBN9780802188861
    Author

    Edward Luce

    Edward Luce was a speech writer for the Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers and now works as the chief U.S. columnist for the Financial Times. He is the author of the national best seller In Spite of the Gods, and lives in Washington, D.C.

    Read more from Edward Luce

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    Reviews for The Retreat of Western Liberalism

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      Luce focuses primarily on the decline of American power, economic influence and standing but also reviews the falling fortunes of Western European countries including Britain, Germany and France. The election of Donald Trump has further weakened our democracy and and trust by our allies. Trump has candidly said that he will put America first. Our allies may not be able to count on America for military or economic support. The analysis from this book is not exactly shocking if one watches or reads the news. But Luce does connect the dots and envisions that the Chinese will soon be the predominant power in the world.

      Listed below are some of the sections that I highlighted from the book:

      "Economists are notorious for getting the future wrong (just as they are peerless at
      explaining the past). The joke is that they have predicted ten out of the last five recessions. In recent years, during what is now called the age of hyperglobalisation, bad forecasting has erred in the opposite direction. Economists have consistently predicted growth where none has materialised.

      It was an Atlantic recession. In 2009, China’s economy grew by almost 10 per cent, and India’s by almost 8 percent.

      Today, the US median income is still below where it was at the beginning of this century. Clearly what the typical American understands by growth differs greatly from that of macroeconomists.

      To be clear: the West’s souring mood is about the psychology of dashed expectations rather than the decline in material comforts.

      There is now a higher share of French males in fulltime jobs than Americans – a statistic that reflects poorly on America, rather than well on France.

      Having hundreds of Facebook friends is no substitute for seeing people.

      The fastest growing units in the big Western companies are the legal and public relations departments. Big companies devote the bulk of their earnings to buying back shares and boosting dividend payments. They no longer invest anything like what they used to in research and development.

      America, in particular, which had traditionally shown the highest-class mobility of any Western country, now has the lowest. Today it is rarer for a poor American to become rich than a poor Briton, which means the American dream is less likely to be realized in America.

      Little wonder the tone of our politics has shifted so markedly from hope to nostalgia.

      Similarly, every single one of America’s 493 wealthiest counties, almost all of them urban, voted for Hillary Clinton. The remaining 2623 counties, most of them suburban or small town,
      went for Donald Trump.

      A third of Americans who graduated in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) are in jobs that do not require any such qualification.

      Almost three quarters of independent workers in the US report serious difficulties in chasing up what they are owed.

      The world now has twenty-five fewer democracies than it did at the turn of the century.

      To put it more bluntly: when inequality is high, the rich fear the mob. In early 2016 I had an eye-popping conversation with a very big name from New York. He argued that there should be a general knowledge test for voters to screen out all the ‘low information voters’. He estimated the franchise test would cut the electorate in half.

      The UFC is to popular culture what Trump is to politics – a brutal and unforgiving breed of show business.

      During the campaign, one journalist summarized the gap between the heartland view of Trump, and that of the liberal elites as follows: ‘the press take him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally.”

      As Western democracy has come into question, so too has its global power. America’s loss has been relative: its share of world GDP has declined. It has also devalued its global credibility by prosecuting reckless wars in the false name of democracy.

      But I believe that protecting society’s weakest from arbitrary misfortune is the ultimate test of our civilizational worth. It seems blindingly obvious that universal healthcare ought to be a basic shield against the vicissitudes of an increasingly volatile labour market.
    • 4/5
      The Retreat of Western Liberalism (2017) is more of a long essay. The page count is over 200 but probably due to font or margins, it's really about a 125-150 page book. It makes a good case that what we're seeing with Trump and elsewhere is part of a bigger trend and there is probably worse to come. Nothing new there but insightful.
    • 4/5
      Not exactly sure what I learned from this book, or how it might have changed me, but I liked it. Basically a centrist rant about the current social situation, but well-written and brief.
    • 5/5
      Great insights into how we got to where we are today with polarization, and my guess is, zero chance of self correcting in next few generations. In my view, it is the beginning of the demise of United States, at least compared to the past gap from other countries. They have to think we have lost our minds!

      1 person found this helpful