Exile Economics: What Happens if Globalisation Fails

The dangerous race for self-sufficiency has begun. Be warned.

Nations are turning away from each other. Faith in globalisaton has been fatally undermined by the pandemic, the energy crisis, surging trade frictions and swelling great power rivalry. A new vision is vying to replace what we’ve known for many decades. This vision – Exile Economics – entails a rejection of interdependence, a downgrading of multilateral collaboration and a striving for greater national self-sufficiency. The supporters of this new order argue it will establish genuine security, prosperity and peace. But is this promise achievable? Or a seductive delusion?

Through the stories of globally traded commodities – from silicon to steel and from soybeans to solar panels – economics journalist Ben Chu illustrates the intricate web of interdependence that has come to bind nations together – and underlines the dangers of this new push to isolationism. Exile Economics is an essential guide to this new world in all its promise and peril.

‘A smart, vivid and humane account of the way the world really works’ TIM HARFORD

‘This is the book to read if you want to understand what might be about to hit the world economy’ EVAN DAVIS

Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
Imprint: Basic Books
Publication date: 10/06/2025