GMU econ prof Dan Klein says a populist strain is natural to classical liberalism. He draws on ethics and libertarian class analysis. He highlights Javier Milei. He discusses two types of popuphobes, swampy globalists and certain misguided classical liberals. He explains how “populism” is gas in the swampy globalists’ gaslighting—and suggests that the misguided classical liberals are playing into their hands. He relates populism to Max Weber’s three sources of legitimacy for a political leader, finding a correlation between populism and charisma. Classical liberals should be wary of populism but accord it at least one cheer, especially in these times of swampy globalism.
