As of: February 19, 2024, 9:06 p.m
By: Amy Walker
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A study by an economic institute examined the consequences of populist governments on the economy.
The result: Gross domestic product fell in all countries examined.
Kiel/Berlin – While many companies and business associations in Germany are now urgently warning against the AfD in a position of power, other countries have already gone through the experiment.
Populists such as Donald Trump in the USA, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel and Boris Johnson in Great Britain have already been elected to power there - and in some cases caused great damage.
A study by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) examined the consequences of populist governments on the country's economic performance over the past 100 years and came to the following conclusion: "Populists are bad for the economy."
Bolsonaro, Mussolini, Trump: they all have one thing in common
The IfW economists examined the economic consequences of a total of 51 populists who were in power between 1900 and today.
Included in the list, among others: Jair Bolsonaro (Brazil), Adolf Hitler, Viktor Orbán (Hungary), Narendra Modi (India), Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel), Benito Mussolini (Italy), Silvio Berlusconi (Italy), Rodrigo Duterte (Philippines). ), Jacob Zuma (South Africa), Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Turkey), Boris Johnson (UK), Donald Trump (USA) and Nicolás Maduro (Venezuela).
Both right-wing and left-wing populists were included in the analysis.
Donald Trump was the President of the USA until 2020.
© Rebecca Blackwell/AP/dpa
The study finds that in countries with populist governments, economic performance declines in both the long and short term.
Five years after the election of the populist, economic growth fell even more significantly 15 years later.
According to the authors of the study, the gross domestic product (GDP) fell in all countries examined, and consumer sentiment also fell.
Populists are often perceived as “people of the people” who promise to stimulate the economy before taking office.
“They generally do not keep this promise,” says the study.
The economists cite the declining attractiveness of a country with populists in power for investors, who then withdraw, which slows down innovation in the long term.
Entrepreneurs warn against the AfD
The study was published in December 2023, but is gaining new attention due to the rise of the AfD in Germany.
At the beginning of January, the Correctiv
network
reported on a secret meeting of AfD politicians, members of the right-wing conservative Values Union, right-wing extremists and entrepreneurs.
According to the research, they spoke at the meeting at the end of November 2023 about the expulsion of millions of people with an immigration history from Germany.
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Since then, millions of people have taken to the streets to protest against the AfD, and leading entrepreneurs and business associations have now warned against the AfD in government responsibility.
“If we allowed the right-wing unspeakable fantasies of deportation among our immigrant employees, then we would have to shut down 50 percent of production in our company,” said a managing director, Andreas Jäger from the rubber and plastics company Jäger of the same name in Hanover, recently according to a survey.
Economist Andreas Haufler from the LMU in Munich even said clearly in the summer of 2023: “What the AfD is planning to do would make things even worse.”