Talk:Neoliberalism
I think someone has neoliberalism and neoconservatism confused. Neoliberalism involves using the free market where appropriate to solve the problems of capitalism (for example, the government funding private drug rehab centers instead of doing it themselves.) It was a response to the bloated bureaucracies created by the Great Society of LBJ. The strongest supporters of neoliberalism within the US were Bill Clinton and the New Republic, two things HATED by every single person mentioned in this article. The single best neoliberal pundit is freaking Michael Kinsley. Within the field of IR, in contrast, it is the use of treaties and agreements (including free trade) to try to bind the world into a set of norms and institutions to rein in horrific dictators like those mentioned. Researcher 14:23, 24 October 2007 (EDT) EDIT: Also, the "Neo" in IR neoliberalism is to distinguish it from old Utopian Wilsonian liberalism, the sort that lead to "Wars for democracy." If anything, Bush Jr. is the craziest sort of the old style International Relations liberal. Researcher 14:38, 24 October 2007 (EDT)
- This is an idea form the US so I'm out of my depth, but I thought the neo-liberals were indeed a return to the original Liberal idea of no state control, free markets, no unions and all that?--Bobbing for apples 14:43, 24 October 2007 (EDT)
- No, that's the "classic liberal" moniker. Domestic Neoliberals believe in the same ends as liberals, but believe that the old methods used by liberals were flawed. As for International Relations neoliberals, many of them do believe that most states in the world could use some liberalization, specifically in destroying corrupt businesses that only survive due to constant government intervention. But they believe in it as a precursor to increasing the material prosperity of the state, which will then lead to greater democratization. The end goal for neoliberals is greater democratization and freedom for the people on the ground. (Which will then lead to less conflict and war--democratic peace theory comes directly from neoliberals.) Researcher 17:08, 24 October 2007 (EDT)
Here is my proposed change. Researcher 20:42, 24 October 2007 (EDT)
- How much longer should I wait before changing it? I don't want to be a dick for just completely erasing someone else's article, but I really think the old one is just plain wrong. Researcher 20:19, 25 October 2007 (EDT)
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[edit] Proposed change
"Neoliberalism" refers to two different, but related, threads of political discourse. One is an ideology of domestic governance, and the other is a theory of international relations.
[edit] Domestic Neoliberalism
In its use in United States domestic politics, the term seems to have been created by Michael Kinsley of the traditionally liberal magazine, The New Republic. In its original meaning, neoliberalism is the idea that, while traditional liberalism had many flaws, the government could still work to help ordinary people. Neoliberalism also attempted to do away with the narrow interest politics that were seen to damage the Democratic Party, by instead creating a vision of how to run the country that was internally consistent and could vie with the libertarian model that many in the Republican Party espoused.
The most important value in neoliberal planning was empiricism. Outcomes needed to be measurable, and measured, to make sure that ideology was not blinding the policy makers. This emphasis on results over other factors led to the creation of the term "technocratic" to describe this approach.
Under the Bill Clinton administration, many neoliberals were given a chance to put their ideas into practice. What this meant was a focus on education, balanced budgets, and assistance to non-profits, alongside a restructuring of those government bureaucracies that did work. Moreover, many economists were brought in for their technical expertise. There were many successes, and overall real incomes grew at a faster rate than any time in recent history, at all levels.
However, there are some criticisms of neoliberalism. One of the most common, even espoused by some prominent neoliberals like Robert Rubin, was that it was too concerned with raising incomes and less with overall income equality. Many traditional liberals worry that the increasing gap between the lower class and the mega-rich is undermining democracy as we know it.
The other major criticism of domestic neoliberals is their support for free trade. Many people on all sides of the political spectrum (in every country) worry about the effects of free trade on everything from wages to sovereignty, but so far empirical evidence for its deleterious effects is still scant.
Prominent domestic neoliberals in the United States include Paul Krugman, Michael Kinsley, and Bill Clinton
[edit] International Relations Neoliberalism
In the academic field of international relations, neoliberalism refers to a school most closely associated with Harvard and Princeton. The neoliberal school of IR arose in the 1970s as a response to the hegemony of the "realism" school
In IR, "liberalism" refers to the orientation of Woodrow Wilson and other people who hoped to reshape the world, through the use of war and international organizations. The goal of the early liberals was democratization and an end to war. Neoliberals took these same goals, but rejected the unscientific applications that had come before. Instead, neoliberals decided to apply rigourous mathematical and scientific techniques.
Most neoliberal analyses relied heavily on rational choice and game theoretic models, borrowed extensively from economics. (The main thing tying both domestic neoliberalism and international neoliberalism is the heavy reliance on economics.) Neoliberals today believe that tying states together in institutions, it can decrease the signal noise that prevents communication between them. Moreover, it can increase the costs associated with provocation and aggression.
The best formulation of neoliberal hopes can be found in the "democratic peace" theory. According to this, no two mature democracies have ever fought a war against each other. Therefore, promoting liberal democracy around the world will have the side-effect of decreasing war. Moreover, since a vibrant middle class has long been recognized as a necessary condition for liberal democracy, neoliberals have focused on helping nations choose policies that would promote the creation of middle classes and democracy.
Criticism of neoliberalism often comes from both the right and the left. Realists often claim that because neoliberals ignore power, they are fooling themselves as to what really causes war and struggle. This is despite the fact that neoliberal claims and predictions have come true at least as often as those made by realists. From the left, constructivists claim that neoliberals are ignoring the structure behind the norms they espouse. Moreover, they point to China as an example of a country that can follow the economic advice of the neoliberals without democratizing.
Prominent neoliberals in IR include Bill Clinton and Thomas Friedman.[1]
- ↑ In fact, Friedman's Lexus and the Olive Tree is a good summation of neoliberal thought, if a bit overly simplistic.
[edit] "Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet is an example of the kind of monster who would kill for the free market."
More like Circlejerk wiki.
[edit] "As a snarl word"
"Much as antifeminists refer to any feminist as a "radical feminist" no matter what their actual position is, a small but significant part of the fringe Left uses "neoliberal" as a catchall term of abuse against pretty much anyone to the right of Bernie Sanders."
I don't think it's automatically a "snarl word." If you support free trade agreements, privatization, and/or deregulation (as the Third Way Democrats have done and still do), then you're a neoliberal. --Nabil (talk) 09:23, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
- My thoughts too. Just because (nominally) Social Democratic/Labour parties don't support a Dickensian[wp] society or anarcho-capitalism doesn't mean they don't buy (most of?) the core neoliberal views of the world and the economy:
- Self-correcting markets
- Supply side economics.
- Deregulation is generally (or possibly always) good.
- Privatization always leads to greater efficiency.
- After an initial bailout of the banks to avoid a complete financial meltdown, austerity, not Keynesian economics, was/is the proper response to Great Recession.
- Welfare queen-style rhetoric with a very thin veneer of "helping the needy poor" (read: "plenty of poor who are just lazy").
- An extreme focus on keeping inflation even to the detriment of higher employment.
- Sure, these parties may appeal for some level of (read: any) employee protection that neoliberals find too much and they also tend to have a less laissez-faire attitude to environmental protection or social security, but their core view of how the economy works seems to be derived from the neoliberals. ScepticWombat (talk) 10:00, 15 April 2015 (UTC)