Branko Milanovic
Absolutely. That’s why the book’s subtitle is “National Market Liberalism in a Multipolar World.”
We all agree that neoliberal globalization has really run its course. It’s not only because of Trump. Joe Biden’s policies as president were very similar. Then the question becomes what type of system comes next, because we all agree that neoliberalism, as it existed from the 1990s until 2016, at least, has now changed. I don’t need to go into detail about trade wars, big economic sanctions, or tariffs to talk about that. But what you notice for Trump very clearly — and I think there are similarities elsewhere — is that relations with other countries have gone into clear mercantilistic mode.
What is liberalism, or even neoliberalism? In the book’s fourth chapter, I present four quadrants. Domestically, it means free competition, low taxation, low regulation, and so on. Socially, it champions negative freedoms, affirmative action, acceptance of sexual and racial differences. On the international level, it has also got two parts. Economically speaking, it is about free trade, while socially speaking, it strives for cosmopolitanism, which, in a pure state, would actually involve freedom of movement of labor and people.
Trump is not only pursuing but deepening neoliberal policies. Reduction of taxation, lower regulation on practically anything, lower tax on capital than labor — he is doubling down on all of these things.
So, you take a look at these four quadrants. Very simply the international part is all gone. Trump simply says: no, that doesn’t apply anymore. As to the domestic part, the negative freedoms and acceptance of different kinds of people and groups is also under attack. So, what remains is really only one quadrant, which is market liberalism. And in this respect, we see that Trump is not only pursuing, but deepening neoliberal policies. Reduction of taxation, lower regulation on practically anything, lower tax on capital than labor — he is doubling down on all of these things.
What do you call this new system? We call it “national” because it applies only nationally and we call it “market” because the social part doesn’t really apply anymore. Hence the term “national market liberalism.”