Dani Rodrik: "good, secure jobs have become scarce"

How can liberal democracies regain the trust of the general population in the face of the rise of populist forces? This question was at the center of many sessions at the Berlin Summit of the Forum New Economy. For Harvard economist Dani Rodrik, one of the first signatories of the Berlin Summit Declaration, this can only be achieved with a revitalized middle class.

Rodrik emphasized: “In the advanced economies of the USA and Europe, the middle class has been hit by a series of shocks in the last two to three decades – the effects of globalization, the effects of technological change and automation, and the effects of austerity – especially in Europe.”

Good, secure jobs have become scarce in advanced economies

Good, secure jobs have been the foundation of shared economic prosperity over the past three decades, and these jobs have become increasingly scarce in many advanced economies. Although elections are coming up soon in the USA, he is a little more concerned about Europe.

To regain the trust of the population, Rodrik suggested that governments should take targeted measures to improve the economic security and prosperity of the middle class. “But we cannot do it by emphasizing manufacturing because we cannot turn history in reverse. Many of these jobs will have to be in services.”

Dani Rodrik belongs to the over 50 notable experts who signed the Declaration of the Berlin Summit. “Six years ago a conference like this would have been impossible. The agreement we now have on industrial policy, the lack of fundamental criticism … when I think about it, when I hear myself saying this out loud, I’m amazed,” said Rodrik at the conference in Berlin, as Columbia Professor Adam Tooze writes in his blog.