The reader just has to wonder at Mr. Luce’s tincture of Pikettyism! Not the real article but a clever pastiche? For a devotee of Neo-Liberalism to ‘think’ in a counterintuitive key? The questions ramify!

Two paragraphs stand out: 

This was a cop out. Since the 1970s, Washington has done plenty to weaken the power of trade unions, cut social insurance and allow educational costs to increase beyond the reach of ordinary Americans. Instead of cushioning such trends, successive US administrations, including Democratic ones, leaned in further. 

That the Neo-Liberal Swindle collapsed in 2008 eludes Mr. Luce’s grasp, although he articulates the shadow of the real thing.

Not forgetting the the next paragraph quoting New Labours’ ‘Golden Boy’ Tony Blair:

Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, once said: “I hear people say we have to stop and debate globalisation. You might as well debate whether autumn should follow summer.”

Mr. Luce can’t quite let go of this enchanting Political Princeling, who like Bill Clinton were the architects of catastrophe.

Mr. Luce ends his essay with more Biden Melodrama: ‘take the sting out of US populism’ of both the Right and Left iterations? The Republicans have what? Mitch McConnell, Neo-Confederate/Originalist, the tattered remains of the Lincoln Project, or Mr. 47% Mitt Romney?What of Josh Hawley, of the raised fist? That historic opening’s chance is pregnant with possibility, that could, might be thwarted? Mr. Luce’s prognostications, indeed prescience, leaves the reader where?

Biden, in other words, has a chance to take the sting out of US populism with a game-changing economic agenda. It is a historic opening that is unlikely to come again soon. He must weigh that against the cost of preserving the Senate veto for a party that increasingly talks only about culture. As time goes on, it will seem like no choice at all.

https://www.ft.com/content/7e9c4448-21c9-4717-9944-d88f87e1a3be

Old Socialist