The death of neoliberalism from within
theguardian.com
The death of neoliberalism from within
1–10 of 104 posts
Re: The death of neoliberalism from within
#2The big question then is what replaces laissez faire economics and how? How do we take the best of the free market while ensuring that governments and public sectors are also robust? I feel like software and technology must have a huge role here, but don't know enough to be able to point out specific solutions.
Re: The death of neoliberalism from within
#3> Two British examples [of neoliberalism], suggests Will Davies – author of the Limits of Neoliberalism – would be the NHS and universities “where classrooms are being transformed into supermarkets”.
Without taking a bit of Davies' argument into the article, that seems to badly undercut the argument. I'm not sure I can imagine a segment of society less neoliberal than either of them. (particularly by comparison to other western democracies)
Re: The death of neoliberalism from within
#4The big question then is what replaces laissez faire economics and how? How do we take the best of the free market while ensuring that governments and public sectors are also robust? I feel like software and technology must have a huge role here, but don't know enough to be able to point out specific solutions.
I think free markets are fine.
We just need a huge revaluation of capital. Downwards.
Re: The death of neoliberalism from within
#5http://stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_and_mumbli... points out that "neoliberalism" isn't a thing, ie. not a coherent philosophy. It's just a name for ad hoc greed by many diverse individuals.
Re: The death of neoliberalism from within
#6> Two British examples [of neoliberalism], suggests Will Davies – author of the Limits of Neoliberalism – would be the NHS and universities “where classrooms are being transformed into supermarkets”. Without taking a bit of Davies' argument into the article, that seems to badly undercut the argument. I'm not sure I can imagine a segment of society less neoliberal than either of them. (particularly by comparison to ot…
Exactly, there's nothing free-market about government run Health Care or Schools.
This is another case of people using words they don't understand.
Re: The death of neoliberalism from within
#7> Two British examples [of neoliberalism], suggests Will Davies – author of the Limits of Neoliberalism – would be the NHS and universities “where classrooms are being transformed into supermarkets”. Without taking a bit of Davies' argument into the article, that seems to badly undercut the argument. I'm not sure I can imagine a segment of society less neoliberal than either of them. (particularly by comparison to ot…
I think the reference to neoliberalism is in the motivation and direction for policy changes in those institutions in recent years, rather than the institutions themselves being neoliberal.
Re: The death of neoliberalism from within
#8> Two British examples [of neoliberalism], suggests Will Davies – author of the Limits of Neoliberalism – would be the NHS and universities “where classrooms are being transformed into supermarkets”. Without taking a bit of Davies' argument into the article, that seems to badly undercut the argument. I'm not sure I can imagine a segment of society less neoliberal than either of them. (particularly by comparison to ot…
Exactly, there's nothing free-market about government run Health Care or Schools. This is another case of people using words they don't understand.
(Disclaimer: I haven't read the article in depth)
My interpretation: neo-liberals have tried to bring market forces to bear on the NHS and Universities - and this is the 'overreach' he is referring to. i.e. the fault isn't with the author - it's with those with overly expansive interpretations of market economics.
Re: The death of neoliberalism from within
#9Related to this, I've separately submitted the actual IMF paper [0] referenced (but not linked, the link goes to a Financial Times story about the report) in the article, which has more depth than the somewhat broader-but-fuzzier Guardian article.
Re: The death of neoliberalism from within
#10The big question then is what replaces laissez faire economics and how? How do we take the best of the free market while ensuring that governments and public sectors are also robust? I feel like software and technology must have a huge role here, but don't know enough to be able to point out specific solutions.
I think free markets are fine. We just need a huge revaluation of capital. Downwards.
Isn't the "death of neoliberalism from within" just the market adjusting itself? I think the situation completely fits what free markets propose.
The problem is not that the system isn't working but rather that it is working too well and we're witnessing the painful consequences of self-adjusting markets.
Self-regulation is cool on paper but in the end we're talking about real people suffering real consequences and, even if the system is adjusting itself, the slowness of "the markets" to realize capital has to trickle down for them to survive (and the resistance of the current capital holders to do so) is producing a lost generation (at best) in the transition.
Of course, the fact that nations (the entities supposed to backpressure the power of capital accumulation) are underlyingly controlled by the very same people not interested in changes to the status quo isn't helping at all.
The system is working as advertised. The society just wasn't told what it all really meant.