“Economists respond to populists” is the title of a collective work which has just been published by Odile Jacob.
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“Provide answers from economists to often simplistic arguments” : this is the aim of the collective work Economists respond to populists, which has just been published. One of the directors of the book, Françoise Benhamou, co-president of the Circle of economists, was the eco guest of franceinfo on Friday May 6.
franceinfo: When does a politician become a populist?
Francoise Benhamou: In the contemporary sense, two elements predominate: the first is the systematic denunciation of the elites. Any problem is linked to the fact that the elites play against the people, in a way… and the second element is the will to protect – sometimes in a legitimate way – against globalization, against immigrants, etc.
Why did you write this book on this theme?
In this highly political period, we realized that certainly economists were interested in populism from the point of view of its origins, but there were no answers from economists to a certain number of arguments which are often simplistic… and because they are simplistic, they are often effective and supported by populists.
Is the split in public opinion abnormal on these sensitive issues such as globalization, capitalism, shareholders…?
Debate is normal. Besides, we are very careful to show that even in the populist discourse there are elements that we can hear. For example, in the desire for protection and reindustrialisation, there are elements that are extremely accurate. But not all industrial or employment difficulties can be attributed to globalization. This is what we are trying to demonstrate. We also try to show solutions that are reasonable and not just ideological. (…) it is necessary to dissect received ideas.