On a single day last month, capitalism as we know it took a triple blow from some unlikely sources. Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, and Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, all decried a system they claimed had neglected the security of its weakest members.
That these three prominent champions of economic liberalism — all of whom work for institutions seen as part of an out-of-touch elite — are now critiquing capitalism is a reaction to the political mood of 2016. This mood has led the UK to turn its back on the EU and to a broader rise of anti-globalisation political movements around the world — notably in the US, where Donald Trump has put protectionism at the heart of his presidential campaign.
For the first time since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the system Mr Draghi and his peers helped build is under threat. Those in power, and large swaths of the electorate, are fearful of what could follow.