From that economy to today’s populism: A conversation with Martin Sandbu

On November 5, the United States will return to the polls to decide whether to grant the presidency to Kamala Harris or offer Donald Trump a second chance. Much of the support that propelled the Republican candidate to the White House in 2016 came from a population excluded by the economic policies of recent decades—working-class and middle-class individuals who will once again play a decisive role in these elections.

In light of the upcoming vote, we revisit the interview published in September by the Esade Center for Economic Policy with Martin Sandbu, European economics commentator for the Financial Times and author of The Economics of Belonging (2020), a book that views the recent wave of populisms as a consequence of economic policies that have left a large portion of the population behind. In it, Sandbu proposes an action plan to build a more inclusive economy and, in doing so, strengthen our democracies.