Donald Trump, Brexit and the other political earthquakes of 2016 introduced the world to a new class of aggrieved voters: the “left-behind” — victims of globalisation and economic churn, many of whom were drawn in by the rage and easy answers offered up by populists.
Ever since, the salons at the World Economic Forum in Davos and other gatherings where elites ponder the state of global affairs have involved animated debate about cause and effect and how to promote more “inclusive” growth in order to defend a liberal multilateral order.
Yet for all the huffing and puffing over whether automation or trade is more to blame for the woes of the working class, or whether the populist tide is ebbing, very little has been done to help the “left-behind” as President Trump nears his first anniversary.