Source: The Daily Economy
by Jason Sorens
“For the last decade, mainstream economists of both the right and the left have begun to flirt with statist ideas that previously were beyond the mainstream: industrial policy, protectionism, massive deficits, anti-‘bigness’ antitrust, a rejuvenation of unions, and unprecedentedly high minimum wages. These policies look remarkably like the strategies adopted by developing-world populists and nationalists of the 20th century like the Peronists in Argentina, the Kemalists in Turkey, and the PRI regime in Mexico. But for whatever reason, these ideas — or some subset of them — became au courant, while free-market economics was seen as passé. But the experience of the last four years, featuring the failures of deficit spending, industrial policy, and protectionism, has started to turn the zeitgeist around. Economists are returning to their bread-and-butter skepticism of the ability of central planners to outperform the market.” (08/13/25)