ABSTRACT
A reaction against the high debt levels of the 1970s and ’80s, the Washington Consensus advocated reducing government debt by cutting government spending, lowering taxes and import tariffs and encouraging foreign direct investment and export ventures. The chief challenge came from China, and like economic models that favored government-sponsored investment, along with a high level of political stability guaranteed by a restricted political framework rather than exposure to the unpredictable vagaries of democracy. China’s economic and strategic ascent can be seen as a return to historical normality, reversing a centuries-long decline for what has been a major world power for millennia. Polarisation of the political environment has offered fertile ground to the champions of communalist responses, populist politicians unafraid to abandon the ‘sensible centre’. The direct influence of the city after whom the eponymous Washington Consensus was named has continued to decline as the alternatives have risen.
