Old left-right sorting algorithms are dead.
One example? 3000 Americans were asked whether free-trade agreements are a good idea. The group most in favour? DSA-supporting Dems at 54%. The group most opposed? Republicans at 25%.
I’m old enough to remember the 1999 WTO riots in Seattle. An assembly of left-leaning groups largely opposed to globalization. 27 years later, their message seems to have landed… Just not in the place anyone expected.
Economic anxiety seems to scramble what people believe. But addressing that anxiety doesn’t guarantee popular support. Consider how both Trump and Starmer (RIP) addressed uncontrolled migration. Both promised to do so, and largely succeeded. Did they experience a popularity bump? Hardly. Trump is exploring historical depths of unpopularity and Starmer isn’t even in charge any more.
Perhaps the anxiety wasn’t really about migration, but something deeper. Antonio Gramsci’s framing, conjured up 100 years ago when imprisoned by Mussolini for his Marxist beliefs, feels particularly apt: “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.”
The DSA loves free trade. Wasn’t on my bingo card.
Source: The Argument
Trump can accomplish some things.
Source: Semafor
And so did Starmer (although not enough to keep No. 10).
Source: Semafor
Nobody is happy with Trump’s handling of the economy. And this is with buoyant stock markets.
Source: WSJ
This is a shift that markets might punish.
Source: Washington Post
The chart that terrifies educators. Teaching and learning must rapidly evolve.
Source: The Economist
Environmental shareholder proposals at Russell 3000 companies. Weak and waning.
Source: Trellis
More energy market chaos looms. Another pipeline to Canada’s West Coast would have a limited impact.
Source: Semafor
Good to see South Africa pivot to exports that are actually useful.
Source: The Economist
