Bangladesh, May 5 -- In the shadows of contemporary global politics, a specter looms large: the rise of populist nationalism and the ascent of authoritarian leaders to power. These trends, often underpinned by promises of revitalizing economies and restoring national pride, have shaken the foundations of established democratic norms. Whats perplexing is that the very economic ideology that gained traction over the past four decades in the West-neoliberalism was purported to strengthen democracy, not weaken it. So, what went wrong?

One critical aspect of this question lies in the economic realm: neoliberalism failed to deliver on its promises. Across the United States and other advanced economies that embraced neoliberal policies -charact...