The Rise of Popularism and Its Possible Impacts on Business and Economics

The purpose of this paper is to examine the recent resurgence of popularism and the possible impacts it may have on contemporary business and economics. This is an exploratory case study that examines the rise of popularism and identifies and analyzes the likely implications for contemporary business and economics. The analysis indicates that the rise of recent popularism is not a new phenomenon. Popularism existed for a long time, and the unexpected rise of income inequality due to the acceleration of globalization and economic growth is what triggered the political and economic popularist backlash. Although populists tend to reject elitism, capitalism, economic globalization, and political establishment, their ethnocentric behavior is no different from those of the corrupted political and economic elites. Popularism does enable nationalism and protectionism, and negatively impacts business and economic growth. There are not that many viable answers to defuse the rise of popularism because some of the solutions that could have prevented this movement, such as financial reform, balancing trade, and fair taxation, were missing in the early stages of globalization. The recent rise of popularism is not a fad or the short-lived anti-establishment and anti-elitism movements, but rather a force to be reckoned with in the near future.