Recovery may limit the rise of populist right-wingers such as the National Front in France

During the past year, right-wing populist politicians have been on the march, in France, the US and even in Germany, where chancellor Angela Merkel’s generous response to the migration crisis has left her exposed, politically, as never before.

In France, the National Front polled one third of the votes in the December 6 regional elections — a dramatic advance from June 2014 when it hoovered up 25% in the European elections.

The recent terrorist attacks in Paris and California, have, of course, boosted the anti-establishment populists. However, Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen are also drawing on a huge well-spring of discontent caused by the economic stagnation affecting countless medium-sized towns and industrial communities across the Western world.