Elections reflect spread of globalization fears

The Brexit vote in Britain, Donald Trump's victory in the United States and the likelihood of further electoral upsets in other countries in the coming year reflect widespread discontent in the West over the benefits of free trade and globalization being unevenly distributed.

Among the targets of disgruntled voters on both sides of the Atlantic are a widening income gap, the rise of international elites to whom the laws of economics do not seem to apply, and what they see as the machinations of nefarious foreigners buying up industries and snapping up jobs.

Part of Trump's electoral appeal was an "America first" policy that appealed to voters in the old industrial Rust Belt states by directly blaming China for destroying the local economy.