What if global trade isn’t really a fight between nations—but between classes? In the fourth episode of our Trade series, Nick and Goldy talk with economist and writer Matthew C. Klein, co-author of Trade Wars Are Class Wars: How Rising Inequality Distorts the Global Economy and Threatens International Peace. Klein argues that the real story behind trade imbalances isn’t about countries “winning” or “losing”—it’s about how elites hoard profits while workers everywhere pay the price. From China’s suppressed wages to Wall Street’s endless appetite for financial assets, this conversation exposes how the true conflict in trade is between labor and capital—and what it would take to build a more equitable global economy.

Matthew Klein is an economist, writer, and co-author of Trade Wars Are Class Wars: How Rising Inequality Distorts the Global Economy and Threatens International Peace. He writes The Overshoot, a publication focused on global economics and financial markets, and his work has appeared in the Financial Times, Barron’s, and The Economist.

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Trade Wars Are Class Wars (with Matthew C. Klein)

Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

Thesis: Trade imbalances reflect class conflict

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