Martijn Konings teaches political economy at the University of Sydney. He is the author of The Bailout State: Why Governments Rescue Banks, Not People (Polity, 2025).
Donald Trump’s second term won’t bring smaller government as promised. Instead, it will replace regulations with a system of executive grace and favor. The old bailout standard of “too big to fail” will be supplanted by a new one: only the loyal survive.
The past few years have seen widespread speculation about the death of neoliberalism and a restoration of the state to a larger role in society. But the evidence isn’t there. Instead, market-based approaches are redefining themselves for a new era.
The idea of an American empire in decline refuses to die.