Beware of this deadly mix: oligarchic economics and racist nationalist populism | Robert Reich

A treacherous alliance is growing that will undermine democratic institutions in the US and elsewhere

The United States presents itself as the beacon of democracy in contrast to the autocracies of China and Russia. Yet American democracy is in danger of succumbing to the same sort of oligarchic economics and racist nationalism that thrive in both these powers.

After all, it wasn't long ago that Donald Trump - who openly admired Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin - encouraged racist nationalism in America while delivering much of the US government into the hands of America's super-rich.

Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com