James Fenske is a Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick and is highly regarded for his innovative studies charting the economic history of developing countries. His work has been featured in reputable outlets such as the Journal of Development Economics, Economic History of Developing Regions, and the Review of Economics of the Household.

Fears of a growing totalitarian tendency in the US have swelled during 2020–22. But how close are we really to a totalitarian state? How have such regimes come about historically and what are the warning signs? This article will answer these questions by examining totalitarian regimes in the eighteenth and twentieth centuries and the pattern by which they came to power.

Stage 1: Discontent and Rumblings

Every new order rises on the ruins of the old.

The crushing issue of high inflation caused by central banks can no longer be downplayed. Public displeasure at the increasing currency devaluation has now forced monetary policy makers to act.

The US Federal Reserve (Fed) has raised its key interest rate to 1 percentage point. Many other central banks have also reacted—such as the Bank of England, the Central Bank of Australia, and the Central Bank of Sweden. Even the ponderous European Central Bank (ECB) now plans to raise interest rates at the beginning of the third quarter.

Rep. John Linder (R-GA) has retired from Congress and radio talk show host Neal Boortz has been silent for years, but their tax plan just will not die.

Writing in the New York Sun, billionaire businessman and Republican Party donor John W. Childs makes the case for replacing the current income tax system with a national sales tax. He writes: