ALL OVER the rich world, people’s lives are getting worse. It’s harder to afford the basics, keep a roof over your head, and access care when you’re sick. People will keep voting for whoever they think will bring back prosperity.
Liberal politicians do not understand this. They have no way to understand and connect with the reality of falling living standards. So, they see GDP growth rates and stock market returns and pat themselves on the back. At election time, they repeat ‘we just need more’. But more GDP growth and higher share prices will not end the hard times.
Why do liberals believe that it will? Because for a while, it did.
In the 90s and 00s globalization combined with a financial boom to create an economic boom that made lots of normal people wealthy. That boom wasn’t sustainable. It was caused by irresponsible policies designed to enrich those at the top. When the boom ended, the rich kept getting richer, but the party ended for everyone else. And, to make matters worse, it ended as the climate started to break down.
Looking to the future, while growth will be lower, GDP will still rise, and stock markets will still boom. But all the wealth created will continue to go to the rich. People’s lives will not get better. And they will get more and more angry about what they have lost.
Some people will be lamenting for a time when you could buy a house and be a millionaire by the end of your life. Others will just be remembering a time you could get a doctor's appointment, and your children had hope for the future. But everyone will carry on looking back. This creates fertile conditions for a reactive, backwards-looking, chauvinistic nationalism.
What’s the alternative?
It starts by being honest with people. The times when everyone could get rich, and the rich could get richer are over. We have to choose.
It’s still possible to make people’s lives better, but not through tax cuts for the rich and investment incentives for big business. Politicians have to stop talking about boosting ‘the economy’ and start talking about supporting the people who make the economy go round. Invest in infrastructure, retrofit housing, and prepare for the climate disasters that are around the corner. Support local government, invest in communities, and boost the cooperative movement. Give people access to nature, to time, to the things that make life worth living.
Some of these policies will boost economic growth. Some of them won’t. What they will involve is a net transfer of wealth and power away from those at the top, towards everyone else.
Which means we’re going to have to fight for them.
Grace Blakeley is an English economics and politics commentator, columnist, journalist and author. She is a staff writer for Tribune magazine. She is the author of several books, including Stolen: How to Save the World From Financialisation (2019) and Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts, and the Death of Freedom (2024)
Liberal politicians do not understand this. They have no way to understand and connect with the reality of falling living standards. So, they see GDP growth rates and stock market returns and pat themselves on the back. At election time, they repeat ‘we just need more’. But more GDP growth and higher share prices will not end the hard times.
Why do liberals believe that it will? Because for a while, it did.
In the 90s and 00s globalization combined with a financial boom to create an economic boom that made lots of normal people wealthy. That boom wasn’t sustainable. It was caused by irresponsible policies designed to enrich those at the top. When the boom ended, the rich kept getting richer, but the party ended for everyone else. And, to make matters worse, it ended as the climate started to break down.
Looking to the future, while growth will be lower, GDP will still rise, and stock markets will still boom. But all the wealth created will continue to go to the rich. People’s lives will not get better. And they will get more and more angry about what they have lost.
Some people will be lamenting for a time when you could buy a house and be a millionaire by the end of your life. Others will just be remembering a time you could get a doctor's appointment, and your children had hope for the future. But everyone will carry on looking back. This creates fertile conditions for a reactive, backwards-looking, chauvinistic nationalism.
What’s the alternative?
It starts by being honest with people. The times when everyone could get rich, and the rich could get richer are over. We have to choose.
It’s still possible to make people’s lives better, but not through tax cuts for the rich and investment incentives for big business. Politicians have to stop talking about boosting ‘the economy’ and start talking about supporting the people who make the economy go round. Invest in infrastructure, retrofit housing, and prepare for the climate disasters that are around the corner. Support local government, invest in communities, and boost the cooperative movement. Give people access to nature, to time, to the things that make life worth living.
Some of these policies will boost economic growth. Some of them won’t. What they will involve is a net transfer of wealth and power away from those at the top, towards everyone else.
Which means we’re going to have to fight for them.
Grace Blakeley is an English economics and politics commentator, columnist, journalist and author. She is a staff writer for Tribune magazine. She is the author of several books, including Stolen: How to Save the World From Financialisation (2019) and Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts, and the Death of Freedom (2024)
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