The Economist (February 2)
The decisive election of Petr Pavel as the new president of the Czech Republic shows that “all is not lost for the centrist liberal consensus” and also indicates that populism in Europe is, at last, “losing its mojo.” Pavel’s win “marks another blow for the narrative of European politics shifting inexorably to extremes.”
Tags: Centrist, Consensus, Czech Republic, Decisive, Election, Europe, Extremes, Liberal, Mojo, Pavel, Politics, Populism, President
The Economist (April 13)
Though relatively new, Central Bank independence has become sweeping. “In a single generation billions of people around the world have grown used to low and stable inflation and to the idea that the interest rates on their bank deposits and mortgages are under control.” Increasingly, it looks like that independence may be a short-lived. Today, the success of central banks “is threatened by a confluence of populism, nationalism and economic forces that are making monetary policy political again.”
Tags: Bank deposits, Central banks, Independence, Inflation, Interest rates, Mortgages, Nationalism, Populism
Institutional Investors (June 11)
“When the U.K. secedes from the EU, it will abandon 70 years of globalization. It will turn away from a world order that increasingly relies on supranational institutions to check the power of extremely wealthy individuals and corporations like Apple and Facebook, with market capitalizations far bigger than the GDPs of most nations.” The potential consequences of Brexit leave many in the City of London feeling threatened, but there is “a coterie of hard-right, wealthy businessmen” who are delighted about “rolling back globalization to protect their positions of power — all in the name of populism.”
Tags: Brexit, Consequences, EU, GDP, Globalization, London, Market caps, Populism, Power, Supranational institutions, U.K., Wealthy businessmen, World order
The Economist (October 21)
“Populism’s wave has yet to crest.” Yet the gestures Trump is making “to his angry base” are unlikely to bring relief. “The demise of NAFTA will disproportionately hurt the blue-collar workers who back Mr Trump. Getting tough on immigrants will do nothing to improve economic conditions.” Instead, “mainstream parties must offer voters who feel left behind a better vision of the future, one that takes greater account of the geographical reality behind the politics of anger.”
Tags: Anger, Blue collar, Gestures, Immigrants, Mainstream, Nafta, Populism, Trump, Vision, Voters
New York Times (October 30)
The rising populism in Germany and around the globe “is not the anger of a classic loony fringe, but rather mainstream people striking out at elites who they believe have lost touch with reality and common sense. To many here, the refugee crisis, the euro crisis, the Ukraine crisis and the threats seen in an unleashed global capitalism have converged in a fundamental question: Do the mighty still know what they are doing?”
Tags: Anger, Capitalism, Common sense, Elites, Euro crisis, Fringe, Germany, Mainstream, Populism, Reality, Refugees, Ukraine
