The political landscape is often portrayed as deeply polarized. The two sides, it is said, can't agree on anything. Even worse, if one side supports a position, that's reason enough for the other to oppose it. While this picture is largely true for cultural issues, the rise of populism on the right is making some of the two parties' economic policies remarkably similar. That's bad news for Americans.
In a new piece for The Unpopulist, Rachel Kleinfeld reminds us that until recently it was relatively straightforward to categorize economic and political systems. Economically, they ranged from left-wing to right-wing, while politically, they varied from authoritarian to democratic. Most American businesses could easily stake out their position. They generally favored right-leaning economic policies—relatively free markets—which included business-friendly regulations and management-centric approaches.
