Why Politicians Lie About Trade: . and What You Need to Know About It

FT Recommended Book on the Global Trade War

'It succeeds both in explaining how global trade works and how it affects things many voters actually care about' – Financial Times

'My hero on this is Dmitry Grozoubinski, who has written the most beautiful book' – author Rory Stewart

Why Politicians Lie About Trade – and What You Need to Know About It is your clear, witty crash‑course in how global trade really works – and how leaders weaponise it to win votes, wage culture wars and spin economic fairy tales.

Written by a former trade negotiator, this smart, highly readable book explains trade policy in a post-truth era.

No graphs, no jargon, just sharp stories, plain English and a built‑in “bullshit detector” for every grand promise about tariffs, trade deals and trade deals.

What this book shows you

Across two parts – How Trade Works and Trade and the Things You Actually Care About – you’ll discover:

• How modern trade policy works in practice – from goods trade and services trade to customs unions, single markets, free trade agreements (FTAs), trade facilitation and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
• Why protectionism is so tempting – and how tariffs, quotas, sanctions, trade embargoes and “keeping out foreign junk” are sold as painless fixes, even when they quietly destroy jobs, growth and innovation.
• What “trading on WTO terms” really means – and why it’s usually code for accepting the bare‑minimum market access on the same terms as the country your partners trust least.
• How trade agreements are really negotiated – secrecy, leaks, horse‑trading, rules of origin, regulatory standards, dispute settlement and why no deal is ever truly “win‑win for everyone”.
• Trade and jobs – how trade policy is endlessly blamed or praised for employment figures, how politicians on all sides massage the numbers, and why press releases about “hundreds of thousands of jobs created” should make you sceptical.
• Trade and national security, climate change and peace – from sanctions and export controls to green trade rules, economic interdependence and “trade for peace”.

Along the way, Grozoubinski dissects Trump, Brexit, trade wars, culture‑war soundbites, populist protectionism and media myths that turn complex tradeoffs into easy slogans.

If you’re tired of being dazzled by big numbers, empty promises and scary headlines about tariffs, trade wars and globalisation, this book hands you the tools to push back – calmly, confidently and with the facts on your side.

Learn how global trade really works – before the next “world‑changing” trade deal hits the headlines.

Reviews

'Despite being an entertaining read, this book is no joke. Structured in two parts, it succeeds both in explaining how global trade works and in illustrating how the rather rarefied topic of international trade policy affects things many voters actually care about: jobs, national security, climate change, and so on.' Felix Martin, Financial Times

'You will come out of it far more knowledgeable than you went in, and shielded from some of the more egregious deceit politicians want to inflict on you. You'll also laugh out loud.' Ian Dunt, author of How Westminster Works

'Written by a former trade negotiator who has trained many British diplomats, this book is authoritative, yet – and here’s the strange part – actually fun to read. Dmitry Grozoubinski has a rare knack for explaining complex information in an accessible and light-hearted way.' Richard Baldwin, Professor of International Economics

'Enraging & enlightening in equal measure. And the measure is absolutely enormous.' James O'Brien, How They Broke Britain

Recommended by The Rest is Politics podcast