Dr. Alan O'Sullivan

They talked about...

you know, the Americans used to put their nose up at the Italian mummy situation where kids were still living with their mothers in Italy in 30s and 40s.

In America now, it's a real phenomenon where people, working people can't get, can't buy property, something very familiar in Ireland, okay?

So this is a global issue.

But the problem, what he says is that liberal democracy has failed in terms of its messaging and has allowed people

these voices, these populist voices to cultivate and to reach a wider audience.

And this then, even though democracy should always prevail, these populist policies are becoming more ingrained.

So what?

OK, the problem is you end up with, without mentioning names, you end up with a particular type of politician that maybe doesn't do the detail, maybe is a bit reactive, maybe leads to more geopolitical uncertainty.

That has huge consequences, OK?

We see it with greater nationalism.

Greater populism leads to greater nationalism, less cooperation, more deglobalization, more us versus them, more othering of countries.

And that is hugely problematic, which is what we're seeing.

We're seeing that play out today.

In terms of economics, it really links his thesis on the decline of American exceptionalism.

He distinguishes between empires and hegemony.

Yeah.

Tell us, what's hegemony?

Hegemony really is this notion that the United States...

through its control of the reserve currencies, through the dollar.