Meet the World's New Teddy Roosevelt

Editor sees France's Emmanuel Macron as pivotal figure in new progressive era
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 21, 2017 5:59 PM CST
Meet the World's New Teddy Roosevelt
French President Emmanuel Macron.   (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

A modern version Teddy Roosevelt is emerging in the world, but he's not on US shores. The editor of the Economist writes that it's none other than French leader Emmanuel Macron. The assertion from editor Zanny Minton Beddoes comes in a piece predicting that a populist wave in global politics will intensify in 2018, leading to the pendulum of power shifting back toward states and away from markets. One factor in this dawn of a new progressive era will be Macron, she writes. He is like Roosevelt in that "both wrap a reform agenda in the rhetoric of national renewal and greatness." And, like Roosevelt, Macron "is pushing a new kind of social contract, one that boosts competition and entrepreneurship while protecting workers who lose out."

Macron hasn't exactly gotten off to a roaring start, but the true test will come in 2018, as the details of his plan take shape. He's pushing pension reform, worker training, and education to better equip people for the 21st century. "If he succeeds—still a big if—Macronism could become a byword for a modern kind of Progressivism." Another development Beddoes predicts is a "techlash," or a backlash against big technology companies such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon. Expect tougher rules and regulations in what amounts to the "21st-century equivalent of the antitrust era," she writes. Click for the full column, which sees China as the third major factor in these shifting dynamics. (More Emmanuel Macron stories.)

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