The results of two more elections last week underline how momentum in the political shift to the right continues to gain traction globally. Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected Sanae Takaichi, one of the most conservative members of the typically centre-conservative party, as its leader. Notably, Takaichi, often described as far-right by media outlets, beat the more centrist and reform-inclined Shinjiro Koizumi in the runoff — underpinning how voters in Japan have increasingly gravitated towards right-wing political movements. She embraces the hardline conservative, nationalist agenda, including stronger defence, loose monetary and expansionist fiscal economic policies, and has previously spoken out against foreign tourists and liberalising immigration policies. In the immediate knee-jerk reaction, yields on the 30- and 40-year bonds rose and the yield curve steepened, the yen fell against the US dollar and the Nikkei Index soared.
And in the Czech Republic, the ANO party of right-wing populist and billionaire Andrej Babis won the greatest number of seats (though not outright majority) in a parliamentary election. ANO is an acronym for “Action of Dissatisfied Citizens” and also the Czech word for “yes”. Babis is allied with another prominent right-wing nationalist leader, Hungary’s Viktor Orban. He has promised to focus on domestic policies (instead of support for Ukraine), including higher wages and lower taxes and is anti-immigrant and anti-carbon reduction policies.
Sound familiar? In fact, these two results are only the latest in a string of significant electoral victories for populist right-wing parties over the past few years. As we highlighted in several of our previous articles (see “Flashback”), this shift to the right is unfolding around the world, in the US, Europe (including Germany, France, Italy, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria and Poland) as well as Latin America (Argentina, Ecuador and Bolivia). In November 2024, a majority of Americans across gender, ethnicity, age and geography — including rural, suburban and urban areas in both red and blue states — voted for Donald Trump, regardless of how the rest of the world viewed him (see collage).
The right-swinging political pendulum is a pushback against years of (il)liberal, progressive interventionist economics. The reason is simple. The intolerant left — with big governments, excessive intervention, high taxes, high spending, large deficits — have caused low productivity, low competitiveness, low wage growth.
People want jobs, higher wages, better living standards, lower inflation, more business opportunities and the liberty to practise their faith and live their lifestyles within the law — not more government, more taxes, more crowding out, more red tape, more rules and regulations. It is the very reason that capitalism triumphs over central planning economies.
