Ed Luce: belief

Transcript context

…Yes, I’d like to push you to talk a little bit more about the retreat to something. What do they moving towards? In this regard, I’m thinking of Tony Jett’s argument that they’re moving towards some kind of certainty and away from the liberal institutions that they perceive as having failed to satisfy their needs. Democracy, in the last 15‑20 years has actually been receding world‑wide, including in Europe. Poland and Hungary are, as one questioner identified, wobbling. There are 25 fewer democracies today than there were in 2000. I think the retreat of Western liberalism isn’t just that we are having our problems at home and having to relearn some of the lessons of what liberal democracy actually means. But I think our models because are not performing well for the broad‑based electorates, that vote in our governments every few years. The model of Western liberalism ‑‑ just very quick things. I know you want a quick answer. 2008 was described as a global recession. It wasn’t. It was an Atlantic recession. China kept growing. India kept growing. The relative attractiveness of the Chinese model therefore grew. I think the retreat of Western liberalism as a model that delivers the goods to its people ‑‑ that’s the ultimate measure ‑‑ is a kind of economic determinist one that I would apply. Last question from me. If there’s more human talent in the world today than ever before and if liberalism is a good thing, why should we be pessimistic?…

Stored transcript either side of the excerpt. The highlighted words are the published quote; the surrounding text is unedited source, never generated.