EconNerds: The 70 Year Old Economic Theory That Predicted Europe’s Populist Wave
Econ Nerds is a digital media channel of the Mercatus Center, focused on illuminating the economics in the world around us through fun, contemporary media.
Populist parties are reshaping European politics, and some elites chalk that up to voters being misinformed or bigoted. But a simple model based on Econ 101—the median voter theorem—might explain far more.
In this episode, we revisit Hotelling’s Law (why ice cream vendors cluster in the middle of the beach) and see how it applies to political competition. Economist Laurenz Guenther’s research shows Europe’s politicians are out of step with the public, especially on immigration—and that gap is reshaping democracy.
We also explore how social pressure and elite groupthink may have blinded traditional parties to what voters actually want. The result? A new wave of populist movements filling the “representation gap.”
NODEHAUS handled the post-production for this piece — from ingesting, editing, motion-graphics animation, sound and color.
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Client: EconNerds, Mercatus Center
Production Co: NODEHAUS
Writer & Host: Matt Hill
Producer, Editing Manager: Roman Hardgrave
Editor: Triston Centretto
Graphics: Triston Centretto
