Neoliberalism

The Industrial RevolutionIndustrial Revolution gave rise to a new philosophy of Political EconomyPolitical Economy called Liberalism. LiberalismLiberalism in its original form reduced politics and economicsEconomics to a simple formula of laissez-faireLaissez-faire in government policy; electoral democracyDemocracy in which popular will was determined by majority at the ballot box and exercised through representative institutionsInstitutions; formal protections of individual freedoms through a defined set of civil rightsCivil rights; the legal guarantee of private property; the promotion, and even privileging, of activities that led to capitalCapital accumulation; the use of market mechanismsMechanism, wherever possible, to allocate and distribute resources across an economy; and a commitment to unfettered internationalInternational trade tradeTrade, International and capital flows. “Neoliberalism” suggests an updating of this concept. However, the term actually refers to something quite different, not least a concrete political and policy program that began in the late 1970s and continues today that is devoted to rolling back the interests of labour in favour of capital, eliminating government “safety nets” and extensive deregulation of major areas of the economy.