MIT economist Simon Johnson notes:
“Populism is an
approach to government that relies on lavish promises that ultimately cannot be
met. The most prominent historical cases since 1945 were, for a long while,
mostly found in Latin America. There are always apologists who claim that a new
source of economic miracle has been discovered. But the ending is always the
same: some form of crisis and disaster. Populism today is again in the ascendancy,
but now one of the most virulent forms is in the United States – and with the
credibility of the central bank very much on the line.”
Roger Cohen notes:
“Representative
democracy, mediated through institutions created to uphold the rule of law and
protect civic discourse, is giving way to a form of social-media-driven direct
democracy where the premium is on hatefulness. It’s open season on any
democratic institution like the Israeli Supreme Court, or indeed a free press
(a.k.a. “enemy of the people”) that is seen as standing between genuine folk
outside of “elites” and their desires.”
As Britain flails, other European countries
lose appetite to copy Brexit