Populism is just the antipode to elitism. Too much elitism (e.g. pre-revolution France, gilded-age America or any kleptocracy of which there are numerous exampl

Populism is just the antipode to elitism. Too much elitism (e.g. pre-revolution France, gilded-age America or any kleptocracy of which there are numerous examples) is problematic too. A dose of populism can be a useful solution to that problem. For example, the New Deal seems to have worked out pretty well. Just like anything else, populist policies need to be considered carefully and applied judiciously to work out well. To hold that all populist policies are simply to give out free money is a straw man argument. A knee jerk response to any populist policy is a low-effort way to implicitly support elitist systems. These policies should at least be fairly considered on their own merits in the context of the actual economic system. I'm not making an argument for any specific policy here, but I've seen far too many policy proposals waved away as "populist" and therefore not serious.