The Great Backlash

Nationalism, populism, isolationism and xenophobia are emerging and gaining traction even in the world’s most advanced countries in response to the 2008 global recession. Economist Nouriel Roubini, writing for Project Syndicate, reviews global political trends and draws parallels with those in Europe just before the Second World War. He points to the rise of nationalist governments in Asia and chaos and conflict in the Middle East. Populist parties are most influential in hard times: Slow recovery and growing inequality offer “ideal terrain” for their expansion; an easy target for blame is the foreigner. To that end, the parties solidify support and spread messages that are anti-immigration, anti-globalization, anti-trade, anti-intellectual in attempts to deflect any culpability from the local governance. So many challenges are global in scale, yet the extremists see no need for global institutions like the United Nations or the World Trade Organization. Roubini warns that similar frustrations and fears led to angry and dangerous authoritarian governments in Italy, Germany and elsewhere in the mid-20th century. – YaleGlobal

The Great Backlash

Populists take a page from the previous century, blaming anemic economic recovery on foreign trade and immigrants, winning over voters with extreme messages
Nouriel Roubini
Wednesday, June 4, 2014

 

Nouriel Roubini, a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business and Chairman of Roubini Global Economics, was Senior Economist for International Affairs in the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers during the Clinton Administration. He has worked for the International Monetary Fund, the US Federal Reserve and the World Bank.

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