Word: populistic
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...That seems almost inevitable. A billionaire populist, Thaksin was deposed in a 2006 military coup amid corruption charges and now lives in exile overseas. His supporters, reconstituted as the PPP, won elections last year. Even before the PPP was banned, another shell party called Puea Thai had been formed. Somchai, who is Thaksin's brother-in-law, is now exiled from politics. But other Thaksin allies will helm Puea Thai, from which the next Prime Minister will likely be picked in the next week...
...yellow-clad demonstrators call themselves the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD). But they represent neither the majority of Thai people nor universal democratic values. Their mission is to erase from government any influence of billionaire populist Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed as Prime Minister in a 2006 army coup. Although the telecom tycoon is beloved by many poor Thais who once gave him a record electoral mandate, the urban middle class, which forms the bedrock of the PAD, accuses Thaksin of being a power-hungry strongman. In October, the former P.M. was sentenced in absentia to two years' imprisonment...
This was, in fact, one of several self-proclaimed final showdowns by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which has long been intent on erasing from government any influence of billionaire populist Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed as Prime Minister in a 2006 army coup. After surrounding Parliament and forcing lawmakers to abandon their work, the PAD moved on to Bangkok's old airport, where a VIP lounge now serves as the makeshift headquarters of current Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat. A brother-in-law of Thaksin, Somchai was evicted from his real office by the protesters, who have besieged...
...Young suggests that greater transparency, including disclosing risk to investors, could rebuild shaken confidence in the industry. Indeed, given the populist backlash against complicated financial mechanisms, tighter regulation now seems inevitable. In the U.S., Congress has scheduled hearings to examine the role of hedge funds in the ongoing financial crisis. "It's going to be quite a slog to get really serious reforms," Young says. "But I'd argue it is in the industry's interest to promote greater transparency...
...populist drills like this can save a lot of lives. As things stand now, if Thursday's "quake" actually happened, about 1,800 people would die and 53,000 would be hurt. Damages would reach an estimated $213 billion. Most people would be without electricity, clean water, ATMs, YouTube videos and multiplayer collaboration games for weeks or months...