Julissa Arce

Steve Bannon debate at The Economist #OpenFutures festival

Steve Bannon, Zanny Minton Beddoes, Julissa Arce, Daniel Franklin

Steve Bannon articulates a strategy of economic nationalism that prioritizes immigration restrictions and trade protectionism to reclaim American jobs, while defending European populist leaders like Viktor Orbán and Matteo Salvini as legitimate defenders of national sovereignty. He characterizes China as a totalitarian rival in an economic war and frames the Paris Climate Agreement as a geopolitical failure, arguing instead that the true threat to the working class lies in the convergence of automation and genetic engineering. This worldview drives a broader mission to deconstruct the administrative state and appoint conservative judges who can dismantle regulatory overreach, positioning Donald Trump as the essential vehicle to break the "medieval theology" of free trade.