The data are in: Populism makes countries worse off. '... a country being ruled by a populist is associated with a 10% lower GDP after 15 ye…

The data are in: Populism makes countries worse off. "... a country being ruled by a populist is associated with a 10% lower GDP after 15 years ... Populists .. were four times more likely than other leaders to preside over democratic backsliding. In fact, of the breakdowns of democracy ... since the end of the Cold War ... two-thirds occurred under populist leaders. Such leaders were also bad for freedom of the press and civil liberties. Perhaps most remarkable of all: 40% of populist leaders ended up charged with corruption." From the forthcoming Kakistocracy. https://unherd.com/2026/07/why-populism-fails/?edition=us via @UnHerd

Source: Yann LeCun (X) | 2026-07-06