Branko Milanovic on What Comes After Globalization

July 27, 2026

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5 min read

When the Global Order You Grew Up In Starts to Expire

In 1989, Branko Milanovic ran into economist Jeff Sachs in Warsaw and handed him a copy of his new book. Sachs looked at the title and said, "I'm trying to bury socialism." Milanovic was confused—he thought Sachs was trying to save socialism by injecting market principles, the same way Keynes had injected doses of socialism to save capitalism from the Great Depression. "Oh, why wait?" Milanovic replied. It was a fundamental misunderstanding that defined an era. Sachs saw the end of socialism as a victory. Milanovic saw it as a tweak. Three decades later, Milanovic's new book, The Great Global Transformation, argues that the neoliberal globalization born in that moment is now expiring, and a new order—which he calls "national market liberalism"—is being born.

What "National Market Liberalism" Actually Means

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What you'll learn

1 (06:44) **The Book's Autobiographical Arc** - Milanovic frames his new book as covering the four economic orders he has lived through, from the 1974 New International Economic Order to the present expiration of neoliberal globalization.
2 (07:55) **Defining "National Market Liberalism"** - Milanovic explains his new term as chopping off the international liberal order while preserving domestic neoliberal policies.
3 (09:37) **The Yin-Yang of Systems: Saving vs. Burying Socialism** - Milanovic recounts a 1989 anecdote where Jeff Sachs corrected his view that market principles would save socialism, revealing a fundamental misunderstanding.
4 (12:31) **The Duality of China: Rich Country, Developing Self-Image** - Milanovic explores the tension between China's technological threat and its self-perception as a developing nation.
5 (15:47) **The Two-Level China Shock** - Milanovic explains how China's rise operates on both a state-to-state level and a personal income level, hurting Western individuals.
6 (20:19) **Why the Backlash Targeted the International Order, Not Domestic Policy** - Milanovic traces the political choice to blame China rather than pursue domestic redistribution.
7 (23:49) **China as the Sleeper: Resisting the 1990s Neoliberal Consensus** - Milanovic explains how China held the line against the seemingly hegemonic neoliberal ideology of the 1990s.

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Show Notes

It's pretty obvious by now that globalization has fallen out of favor. And while many pundits have deemed economic globalism dead, we are still figuring out what to call this new era. Branko Milanovic's chosen phrase is "national market liberalism," a term that sums up how a world once defined by the free movement of capital has begun to contract as the most powerful governments have come to favor mercantilism and nationalism. In his new book, The Great Global Transformation: The United States, China, and the Remaking of the World Economic Order, the famed economist explains what comes after globalization. He talks to us about China's economic evolution, the pressure it has put on elites in the West, and much more.

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