MARK BLYTH ON HOW TO FIX DEMOCRACY

In our second series of How to Fix Democracy, we’re focusing on the relationship between economics, particularly capitalism and contemporary democracy. The real question though is, what has become of economics in the age of Trump, in the age of Bolsonaro, and Modi and many of the other authoritarian populists that are redefining democratic politics in 2020? Mark Blyth is a Professor of Economics at Brown University. He’s a world-authority on the history and idea of austerity and he’s also the author or co-author of a really interesting new book about something he calls Angrynomics.

Andrew Keen: Mark, has economics in 2020 degenerated into Angrynomics?

Mark Blyth: Unfortunately, it has. And we see this right across the world. And in fact, it’s been building for a long time, and one of the main arguments that we make in the book is that don’t think that Trump is a cause. Trump is a symptom, as is Bolsonaro, as is Modi, of a series of economic changes over the past 30 years, which have systematically created the series of inequalities and fragilities, which were covered up in the 2008 crisis by huge amounts of Central Bank liquidity, but ultimately that just acts as a kind of sticking plaster. The sticking plaster is coming undone and the result is the various populisms that we see across the world.

Andrew Keen: But isn’t economics always a form of Angrynomics? There are always going to be losers. There are always going to be people who think they deserve more money, more wealth. They’re always going to…