This month’s musings have less to do with “the market” per se and everything to do with “the system” we’ve come to see as constant and never-changing.

Ever since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Washington Consensus has been the dominant paradigm for understanding the global political economy.

The “Washington Consensus” refers to the set of economic policies that the United States and international financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, promoted in the late 20th century. These policies emphasized globalization, free trade, deregulation, and privatization.

For a time, this vision of the world appeared to be the only game in town. However, in recent years, this consensus has shown signs of fraying.