More anthropologists and fewer economists, please

Anthropologists have examined the casualties of change while most economists have ignored them. They are experts in examining the lived experiences and cultural contexts of these changes.

Donald Trump in 2016 was a genius in mobilizing the anger that many traditionally blue collar Democrat supporters felt about being neglected by the east coast and west coast affluent Democrat politicians. Globalization and free trade had worked well for some people (especially in finance) but had eroded the US's manufacturing base. There was no place for them in the new services-based economy.

The Democrats were also perceived as ignoring the cultural interests of the working class: family, faith and community. Traditional cultural affiliations are important to them.

The economic theory was that as free trade increased and traditional US factory jobs declined, so workers would move elsewhere in the US looking for new types of work. But the economists got it wrong. Workers (even if unemployed) still have an emotional investment in their community. West Virginia coal miners, for example, did not move (as the economists predicted they would). They dropped their usual political affiliations and voted for Trump.

In short, in the US and UK, the right won the economic debate and the left won the culture debate. There were both new right economic rationalism and left-wing political correctness, de-platforming and silencing of people with alternative views.

Many poorer people felt excluded from this new society. Anthropologists listened to them. Anthropologists are able to translate stories of everyday life into a form of knowledge.

The 2008 global financial crisis should have forced the political class into recognizing that economics alone will not explain how societies operate. There should have been greater attention to social structures and social relations.

But the political class continued on with business as usual. The class got a series of rude awakenings in 2016 with the Brexit vote and the Trump triumph. The political class is still having difficulty breaking its reliance on economists.

Ditch the economists and recruit more anthropologists.