Markets will not remain immune to fallout of increasing populism
The short-term benefits might seem promising but the long-term political implications could be dire
We are living in uncertain times. In 2016, the UK Brexit vote in June and the US presidential election in November yielded results that registered as stunning rejections of the political status quo. In 2017, Geert Wilders, the right-wing anti-EU and anti-Islamic populist candidate in the Dutch election, did not receive as much support as pre-election polls suggested. But with presidential elections imminent in France and later in 2017 in Germany, it remains to be seen whether the revolt against the post-Second World War liberal democratic consensus will continue in Europe. Amid all this uncertainty, how does one invest for a future that seems increasingly precarious? Or can we relax, safe in the knowledge that economic and financial fundamentals are sound? After all, US markets have just celebrated a remarkable eighth anniversary of the second-longest bull market in history, pulling out of the post-crisis lows of March 2009. Why is it that British, US and European citizens have vote...
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