Populism is winning on both left and right

Let’s also talk about the Mamdani, the mayor elect of New York City. Many point to the fact that he focused on socialist policies, but it was the impact of current policies on the city’s affordability that resonated. He focused on free transit, cheaper groceries, freezing rents and lowering the cost of child care. He focused on affordability, the economy. He won.

For Trump, immigration became the boogeyman, a way to illustrate a threat to the American way of life. For those who see rents going up, groceries going up and opportunities for good jobs and buying a house going down, there was an appeal.

For Mamdani, corporations became the boogeyman, a way to illustrate a threat to the American way of life. The number of rich is growing, and the amount they have accumulated is also growing. It resonates with those who work as hard as previous generations without the trappings of a middle-class lifestyle; however, one could argue the comfort of our modern era exceeds all other generations. Still, the idea of taxing the rich appeals to those who are fed up with how things are going. For those who see rents going up, groceries going up and opportunities for good jobs and buying a house going down, there was an appeal.

Both Trump and Mamdani are masters of social media, are heavy on charisma (admit it) and focus on winning issues like a dog with a bone. But they didn’t win because of their social media presence. They won because they focused on quality of life, the economy and affordability — populism.

And yet their solutions couldn’t be further from each other, at least at first glance. Let’s look at free transit under the lens of capitalism — specifically Costco rotisserie chicken. This will make sense, trust. Those cost $5, and are in the back of the store. The company reportedly loses $30 million to $40 million a year selling those chickens. It sells a lot of chickens, which are loss leaders. That means they are intended to lose money to get people in the store so they will buy a couple hundred dollars of other things.

New York City already has a relatively affordable public transit system and operates with a high volume. More riders means more money coming from the turnstiles, as long as fares are enforced. Mamdani wants to make buses free, from the current relatively cheap fare of $2.90. In doing so, more people would move around faster — workers, residents and visitors — freeing them up to spend more time and money in the city. It’s capitalism. I think going free is a mistake, maybe make it $1 for now to see if you can capture some volume, but no one voted for me to run New York City (a small aside: Going cheaper for a few limited periods is something our transit agencies should consider. You know, a sale. It might get people to try it again).

And let’s look at some of Trump’s policies under the lens of socialism. He has strong-armed companies to move production to this country, even having the government take a 10% stake in Intel. That’s the state taking a stake of the means of production, which is socialism or a form of social ownership. And a proposal to redistribute $2,000 derived from indirect taxes in the form of tariffs is also a form of socialism.

Yet Mamdani is no capitalist and Trump is no socialist. They are populists with different ideas on either solving or exploiting the woes created by the growing gap between the haves and have nots. Income disparity can be remedied without disincentivizing business creativity. Capping income and taxing unrealized profits won’t work, but increasing capital gains taxes from 23% to 46% for any income over $25 million will. Forgiving student loans won’t work, but lowering their interest rates will. Free anything won’t work, but tax incentives and credits will. And we need immigration reform that respects our workers, the immigrants and the global economy, with which we are inextricably tied.

Either way, it’s the policies that make the difference, not the platitudes, and the real question is whether the populist movement can meet in the middle to make true progress on the issues that matter most to average Americans.