What Went Right in 2024? For One Thing, Free and Fair Elections

Ina fractious year, democracies operated smoothly and peacefully under pressure, while rising economies, falling crime and advances in medical care bode well for the future.

- ZACHARY KARABELL

For the first time in a while, polls show the public mood in the U.S. is ending the year on a relative upswing. While the election of Donald Trump to a second term as president remains hugely divisive, the overall effect of the November elections has been more energizing than any single event in many years. Most Americans remain sour on the state of the economy, but there is a widespread expectation, according to the polls, that on that front at least, things will get better, with just over half believing that we are headed for better times ahead.

The business community and investors are feeling especially jazzed, with the expectation that after years of regulatory pall, the Trump administration will take a more laissez-faire approach to, well, everything in business, which helps explain why stock, crypto and business sentiment are all ripping higher as the year ends.

Given that the past few years started with low expectations that were then surpassed, perhaps today's better mood and churning animal spirits augur worse times ahead. But they also reflect a year that has seen much go right. You wouldn't necessarily know that from the news. "Good news" is, if not an oxymoron, a rare creature. News is dominated by the dyspeptic, by heated emotions and crises. There may be lots of good news at any given point, but that isn't news.

So what went right in 2024? The single most dramatically positive thing to happen globally in 2024 was a slew of elections. Voters in at least 60 countries went to the polls, including in the world's largest democracy, India, and the world's oldest continuous democracy, the U.S. The elections were conducted in an orderly fashion and unfolded peacefully, and the results were accepted by all parties without violence and civil division.