The neoliberal movement is probably the least understood and the most important-to-understand movement in the last century precisely because people believe so much of its BS without even knowing what it is and was - and how they came to believe this bullshit in the first place
Neoliberalism can be traced to the 20's
During WW1,cooperation between government & industry conferred a new legitimacy on state regulation, supervision and planning
Neoliberalism arose not to rehabilitate free markets but to“inoculate capitalism against the threat of democracy”
During WW1,cooperation between government & industry conferred a new legitimacy on state regulation, supervision and planning
Neoliberalism arose not to rehabilitate free markets but to“inoculate capitalism against the threat of democracy”
In the view of neoliberals
The state must enforce property and contract law and accommodate a bare minimum of working-class demands while expediting the movement of capital and commodities.
The state must enforce property and contract law and accommodate a bare minimum of working-class demands while expediting the movement of capital and commodities.
In the view of neoliberals
The state must not only refrain from regulating business; it must desist from providing social welfare, since the workers of the world must be united in submission to the fluctuations of the world economy.
The state must not only refrain from regulating business; it must desist from providing social welfare, since the workers of the world must be united in submission to the fluctuations of the world economy.
Though ostensibly democratic, the neoliberal state must not be an instrument of popular will; it is more like a police station charged with managing & if need be, repressing any uppity rabble: unions, especially, but any form of popular mobilisation to tame/eradicate capitalism.
in the 1940’s, a rising bloc of business leaders, intellectuals, and politicians began an eventually successful crusade to re-impose unfettered accumulation.
for 3 decades the relative prosperity and tranquility of “the golden age of capitalism” stymied their efforts
for 3 decades the relative prosperity and tranquility of “the golden age of capitalism” stymied their efforts
Then global economic crisis of the early 1970’s created the perfect conditions for an assault on New Deal liberals and western European social democracy
The state’s main focus had been on maintaining a high level of demand, capital now began to insist on more attention to supply
The state’s main focus had been on maintaining a high level of demand, capital now began to insist on more attention to supply
the “supply-side” entailed a dramatic lowering of personal and corporate taxes, draconian cuts in social spending, deregulation of business activity, and the weakening if not crushing of unions.
Thatcher and Reagan centre stage
Thatcher and Reagan centre stage
Their argument was that the enterprise and innovation unleashed by these policies would increase aggregate wealth that would “trickle down” from capital to increasingly unorganised workers.
The Reality
Stagnation of real wages for 4 decades; increased worker productivity;Himalayan levels of personal debt to make up for wage stagnation; a shift in the trajectory of capital away from production to finance; a massive upward redistribution of wealth & lower growth rates
Stagnation of real wages for 4 decades; increased worker productivity;Himalayan levels of personal debt to make up for wage stagnation; a shift in the trajectory of capital away from production to finance; a massive upward redistribution of wealth & lower growth rates
the 40 year assault on Unions and the welfare state issued in a resounding victory for corporate business, brought to a head in the late 1990’s with Clinton and Blair.
The parties traditionally considered the vehicles of working-class interests ..rapidly recast themselves
The parties traditionally considered the vehicles of working-class interests ..rapidly recast themselves
“New Labour,” as Blair anointed it, redefining their objectives, not as regulating or abolishing capitalism, but as making the transition to a fully marketise world less painful and disruptive than it might be.
Thus, when Thatcher was asked what her greatest achievement had been, she said without skipping a beat, “New Labour.”
Neoliberalism has been “a political project to re-establish the conditions for capital accumulation and to restore the power of economic elites.”
It continues
Neoliberalism has been “a political project to re-establish the conditions for capital accumulation and to restore the power of economic elites.”
It continues
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