ARE THE TECTONIC PLATES SHIFTING?
ARE THE TECTONIC PLATES SHIFTING? The postwar centrist political consensus has come to an end. This is apparent here in the UK, across Europe, and in the United States. Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on what replaces it. Right wing populism, manifesting as a kind of ethno-nationalism, is on the rise. The popularity of European leaders like Marine le Pen, Victor Orban, Geert Wilders, and Nigel Farage has been turbocharged with the election of Donald Trump as US President. The common thread that links all these populist leaders is public opposition to immigration and underpinning that is the failure of the mainstream, centrist parties to manage their country’s economies properly or to deliver sustainable growth and improvements to living standards. “It’s the economy stupid” is as true today as it was when Bill Clinton’s election team first coined the phrase. People don’t reach for political extremists offering simple solutions to complex problems if the established...