Globalisation left off the menu
AsKeD at a global economic forum to describe a favourite meal Mark Carney chose diablo pizza; Christine Lagarde chose home cooking like her grandmother; the deputy governor of the Chinese central bank Yi Gang chose international cuisine and German finance minister Wolfgang schäuble chose fine, French cuisine.
the answers may seem inconsequential but were also significant. Carney and Lagarde may be members of the footloose global elites, both have crossed Continents to head their organisations the Bank of england and international Monetary Fund, but they are also – unlike their Chinese and German colleagues – right on message.
Not for them the fancy foods of Michelin star restaurants: instead a hot pizza topped with chorizo and pepperoni and preparing wholesome food in their own kitchen.
the dominant message of this year’s international financial meetings in Washington was that it was time to end top down economic and financial policies, downplay globalisation and think more about so-called ‘distributional issues’ – those who have been left behind.
Nigel Farage may be regarded as a nationalist ideologue with barely concealed racist views by the liberal elites. And Donald trump as an incendiary narcissist with similar racist and anti-women prejudices. But they and some of the nasty parties of the european Union have tapped into the anger provoked by technology change and global trade which have left large swathes of low middle-income families across the United states and europe in a rut.
the very poorest are being lifted out of extreme poverty, thanks to work by the World Bank and generous donors such as Bill Gates. And the rich have become ever richer thanks to money printing and the consequent surge in asset prices. But in the abandoned steel towns along the Monongahela river in Pennsylvania and in Port talbot and redcar in Britain it doesn’t feel much like that.
the fascinating consequence is that Farage, Brexit and trumpism are regarded as such potent forces that they have changed the public dialogue. in her tory conference speech theresa May invoked a new ‘spirit of citizenship.’ in her opening remarks at the iMF annual meeting Lagarde asked for a new kind of trade agreement which placed the emphasis on ‘inclusiveness’. in other words an end to the corporatist approach as symbolised by big trade deals such as the trans- Pacific Partnership.
Globalisation is almost certainly a mistaken target. Yes Chinese steel dumping in Britain has been enormously damaging to jobs and investment. But the real enemy of the ordinary working citizen is technology.
Kodak was once the world’s biggest camera and film company employing 150,000 people. it was taken down by the computer app instagram – the work of 15 young people with laptops. trump-style protectionism will not deal with that.
the causes of Brexit and trumpism are similar but the answers very different. Brexiteers see the referendum as an opportunity to embrace global trade without the dead hand of Brussels regulation and rule making weighing down enterprise. trump simply wants to close borders and return to an age when the United states did everything itself.
Both are very different answers but both have forced the elites to think more like pizza eaters.