A wave of populist fervor is washing across much of the advanced world, and at the root of this emerging political dynamic are economic trends. As indicated by a McKinsey Global Institute Report, with the exception of a brief hiatus during the 1970s, much of the past 70 years has been associated with buoyant global economic and employment growth.
Take for example the fact that between 1993 and 2005, all but 2 percent of households in 25 advanced nations experienced increases in real incomes. But this incredibly positive trend has come to an end. Between 2005 and 2014, real incomes in those same advanced economies were flat or declined for roughly 70 percent of households, or for more than 540 million people. While government transfers and lower tax rates mitigated some of that income, about a quarter of all households still experienced declines or no growth in disposable income.
The hardest hit have been young, less educated workers who may end up as part of a generation that will growing up poorer than their parents. That angst has apparently caused many young people and their parents to lash out at established institutions.
