Many articles claim that the 2023 Dutch general election results fit in a European trend, and will predict other forthcoming European general elections. I doubt that. If only, given the election results in Poland and Spain. In my view, the recent Dutch election results are not similar to Hungary. Most of all, the Dutch election results are a reckoning with Mark...
Globalism vs Nationalism
The Dutch anti-woke backlash
29 Nov, 2023
Many international articles and Dutch liberal-left articles claim that the Dutch far-right has won. Those articles are wrong. If anything, there has been a Dutch anti-woke backlash. Most of all, against the four governments headed by Mark Rutte over the period 2010-2023. The winner is an extreme nationalist party, which has left-wing policies (eg, better...
Finally: Dutch defragmentation
27 Nov, 2023
The most important - and overlooked - result of the 2023 Dutch General Election is a defragmentation. Small parties lost seats (-17) or even disappeared from Dutch Parliament (-2). All four government parties lost seats (-36). Left-wing parties lost seats (-14). Right-wing parties won the 2023 election. The biggest misconception is that a big Left-wing party (ie,...
Biden’s industrial policy is missing a key ingredient: Allies (WaPo)
24 Jun, 2023
The Washington Post Opinion title: Biden’s industrial policy is missing a key ingredient: Allies By: the Editorial Board Date: 19 June 2023 "The era of unfettered free trade is over. There’s bipartisan sentiment in Washington to build what national security adviser Jake Sullivan has called a “new consensus” around “a modern industrial and innovation strategy.”...
The 7 stages of Liberalism (2)
6 Mar, 2023
In 2018, I wrote my blog The 7 stages of Liberalism. Increasingly, I'm wondering if stage 7 was wrong and should have been on the rise of illiberal liberalism. Several articles deal with this phenomenon: Hoover-2014, OUP-2015, Politico-2017, Heritage-2017, Economist-2018 and T&F Online-2022. The key criterion of illiberal liberalism is the immediate desire to...
China’s Demographic Balloon Is Rapidly Losing Altitude (WSJ)
18 Feb, 2023
Wall Street Journal title: China’s Demographic Balloon Is Rapidly Losing Altitude WSJ subtitle: Country’s population decline isn’t just about fewer low-cost workers. It will hit China’s development strategy in another way, too. By: Nathaniel Taplin Date: 13 February 2023 "Beijing has spent the past week needling Washington over the forcible deflation and subsequent...
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