How America could end up like Venezuela

Book review: Political Tribes, by Amy ChuaPolitics based around tribal identity is not healthy for a country.

Dr Matthew Partridge
By
published
in Features

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Donald Trump's divisive statements over immigration have led many to conclude that American race relations have worsened since the election. However, Professor Amy Chua of Yale University argues that America isn't the only country divided along ethnic lines. Best known for her controversial parenting memoir Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Chua thinks most experts have underestimated the importance of racial divisions in politics. Chua warns that unless something radical happens, America could end up going the same way as, say, Venezuela, with voters dividing along tribal lines to the detriment of the quality of leaders taking office.

This is a book that grabs your attention from the start. Yet Chua tends to overstate her case as, for example, when she argues that the Vietnam War was a conflict between ordinary Vietnamese and ethnic Chinese, rather than between communism and capitalism. She also overlooks the fact that, bad as American race relations are, they have improved drastically in recent decades. It's worth remembering, too, that many of Trump's supporters previously voted for Barack Obama. Nonetheless, Chua has a strong point when she argues that a politics based around tribal identity is not healthyfor a country.

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri

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