Market populism


Market populism, coined by Thomas Frank, is the concept that the free market is more democratic than any democracy. Frank himself does not believe this premise and sets forth arguments against it in his book One Market Under God. The concept received major widespread prominence in the 1990s when it was used to justify the New Economy, which consisted of a long bullish trend, and support for the free market.

History

The concept's origins stretch back at least as far as 1933, when political scientist Harold Lasswell wrote:

1990s America

The concept of market populism became especially popular during the American New Economy, which began in the 1990s. Academics, executives, Democrats and Republicans all shared the idea that markets were a popular system. In other words, because they were considered to be efficient at allocating resources, therefore the inefficiencies arising from poor legislation or unethical practices would be rooted out. The phrase "golden straitjacket" was coined by Thomas Friedman in his 1999 book, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, as a synonym for market populism.