Reflecting on populism and the economics of globalization

In this commentary, we take up two key elements of Dani Rodrik’s analysis of the economic underpinnings of populist politics. We focus on the links between globalization (especially trade integration) and populism and the role of global institutions (notably trade agreements) in both generating the economic pressures to which populist politicians are responding and in constraining the ability of governments to deal with adverse distributional effects of these pressures. We argue that it is important to distinguish between trade shocks and trade agreements; that the role of both is given too much weight relative to the effects of financialization and international capital flows, migration, and technological change; and that deepening international cooperation (global governance) can – and should – be part of the supply response to populism.