Since the November election, I’ve been telling business people that the election marked a new cycle in politics: from pro-business government to pro-government – and potentially anti-business – government.

That cycle has dominated American history since the Civil War. Government was pro-business in the 19^th Century, leading to great fortunes and the Industrial Age. Then, the Robber Barons and the trusts spurred a reaction: Teddy Roosevelt, the trust-busters and the Progressive Era.

Then came the Roaring Twenties. Business was up again. Followed by the Depression, the New Deal and an era of active government.

Then the inevitable swing back: the Fifties and the pro-business era of Ike. Followed by the Sixties and the Great Society – and even Richard Nixon, a big-government guy who froze wages and prices.

Then came Reagan – “Government is not the solution to our problems; it is the problem.” That era lasted 28 years.

But I’m beginning to think there is something different this time. We may be in an era that is both anti-business and anti-government.

There are two strains of populists today. On the right, the talk-radio and CNBC ranting heads rail against government. On the left, the netroots rail against business. The right goes nuts over the stimulus and budget bills. The left goes nuts over corporate bonuses.

You saw the impact when President Obama told his administration to find some way – any way – to stop the AIG bonuses.

Back in the Cold War, there was a theory of Mutual Assured Destruction. The New Populists today – in our microwave news and information society – may be driving all of us MAD.

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