The remarkable electoral and geopolitical volatility of the past decade has shown that a progressive political economy will not simply emerge but will have to be won. Given the left’s historic role in mitigating economic inequality, one might assume that the fracturing of the neoliberal order in the 2010s would have benefited the left more than the right. There were certainly moments that pointed in that direction, but the victories of the populist right across that same time span now seem more consequential. Three questions: First, why has this been the case? Second, what circumstances would be necessary to reverse this trend? And third, is there a possibility that elements of the progressive left and of the populist (or nationalist) right might find common ground, given the beliefs that they share: anger about economic inequality; skepticism about the virtues of free markets and globalization; the desire to replace free trade with fair trade; and the embrace of industrial policy as a tool for economic growth and redistribution and national security? Or are the projects of the progressive left and nationalist right too different, the cultural antagonisms too deep?

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify