Once hailed as the means to wealth and low-priced consumer products, the de-industrialisation caused by neoliberalism (to give globalisation its true name) and consequent loss of jobs hit millions of blue-collar workers across the developed world. With the 2008 financial crisis added in, followed by austerity and unrestrained Quantitive Easing (QE), the outlook for poorer citizens further deteriorated, even eating into the income of those in the middle classes.
All but those with those with significant stocks of wealth or capital felt the impact of footloose multinational corporations profiteering whilst pro-business, regulation-wary governments did little to restrain the firms' activities. The European and US political elite promoted business-as-usual neoliberalism with its dogmatic lassie-faire adherence to privatisation, deregulation, free-trade and fiscal austerity as a cure to economic and social problems. Feigning ignorance at the suffering of many ordinary people, they attempted to frame dissenters as being disparate troublemakers.
This attempt to bluff their way through the suffering of many of the people who had elected them in a post-truth version of politics, where anything off the free-market meta-narrative was ignored or reframed, meant they became further isolated from their own citizens.
Consequently there were some shocks in 2016, the two notable ones being the British vote to leave the EU and the election of Donald Trump as US president. Brexit was a close vote but it went against the advice of experts, the technocrats in the Treasury and Bank of England who'd ruined their reputations by supporting private-sector led growth with divisive QE for the banks and interest rate cuts, seemingly benefiting the wealthy at the expense of everyone else. Fanned by anti-EU propaganda and immigrant worker vilification from UKIP and the UK's right-wing press, the vote to leave the EU shouldn't have been seen as a surprise. In fact the only part of England and Wales to seriously support Remain was in and around London which had suffered less in the post financial crisis austerity as billions of pounds was pumped the City's banks. It soon became clear that there was no plan for a Leave Vote as Prime Minister Cameron rapidly resigned and his successor procrastinated as an exit plan was thrown together.
The Trump election had similarities in its vote against the status quo but was styled in quite different manner. Rallying against the political elite with their support for neoliberalism (albeit 'soft' in the case of the Obama administration) Trump recast the US's problems as being due to excessive state interference, immigration and international trade policies, taking a curious pro-business but anti-globalisation position. His own use of post-truth politics to shift position without losing support meant he was able to capitalise on dissent by playing an outsider to the system, despite being a wealthy businessman, a trick also achieved by UKIP's Nigel Farage.
When Trump won the election and was seen at rallies with Farage the similarities between Brexit and his election success were confirmed.
But now he and the UK government have to face the challenges of turning promises into reality. Whilst still maintaining the core tenants of neoliberalism they have to attempt to give ordinary people the opportunities and improved living standards promised by Brexit and Trump rhetoric.
Only as they fail to achieve these may there be some further questions as to what has really been the cause of falling incomes, declining public services and rising national debts. Rather than blaming immigrants, the EU or other politicians it may be time to explore the system that has caused the problems. That globalisation - neoliberalism - has made a few people very rich and everyone else worse off.