Populist policies can be myopic and also very hard to challenge

Even in the best of times, policymakers find it difficult to explain complex issues to the public. But when they have the public's trust, the ordinary citizen will say, "I know broadly what you are trying to do, so you don't need to explain every last detail to me.” This was the case in many advanced economies before the global financial crisis, when there was a broad consensus on the direction of economic policy. While the US placed greater emphasis on deregulation, openness and expanding trade, the EU was more concerned with market integration. In general, though, the liberal (in…