Abstract

«The Economist»'s Manifesto shows a profound worrying about the current effects of globalisation and financialisation of the economy. Even though these trends have brought about new chances of improvement for backward countries, the consequences for the advanced democracies have been disappointing: social inequalities have been on the rise since the 1980. Liberalism is under attack and a liberal reinvention is necessary to face the populist wave that is growing. «The Economist» takes distance from the neo-liberal policies of the last decades. The Manifesto proposes a «new social contract» based on the reorganisation of welfare policies, rather than a simple retrenchment, as well as an increase in progressive taxation. The journal's editors seem to look at the experience of European social-democracy. Their proposal is certainly courageous and interesting but runs the risk of being too late, because the liberal and socialdemocratic parties that could sustain the new policies are seriously weakened.