NEO-LIBERALISM

 Based on: JANINE BRODIE AND ALEXA DEGAGNE

Introduction:

Political commentators think the financial crisis of 2008 is like the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Great Recession started in the USA and began in the housing market.

The Road to Neo-Liberalism:

New Liberalism started after the 1970s. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was elected as she promised to free the enterprise. She once said, "There is no such thing as society. There are [only] individual men and women, and there are families ... people must look after themselves first" (quoted in Carroll and Little 2001, 48). When Ronald Regan was elected as a prime minister, he started doing the same, cutting taxes for corporations, cutting money from social welfare, and putting more money into the military.

Neo-Liberalism: Policies, Interests, and World View:

-          THATCHERISM AND REAGANOMICS:

These are the initial steps of Neo-Liberalism. Then, it moves forward to the advanced level.

-          Preferred Policies:

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) have recommended this policy to underdeveloped countries to boost their economies. Many countries adopted it, and many of their companies and agriculture went to privatization. All came to the world market, which led to the price down. In the meantime, the home country faced a shortage of food.

-          Political Interests:

After a survey, we learned that 1% of the world's population is the richest, and male adults enjoy 43% of the world's assets. From 1980 to mid-2000, the top wages people doubled their wages. The situation in the USA is worse. The same problem happened in Canada, too. Rich became richer, and the middle and poor’s conditions worsened.

-          World View:

Neoliberalism means income inequality. It also creates inequality in race, gender, class, and economy and in access to education and social goods. Here, the poor are responsible for themselves and for maintaining their families and children.

Rethinking Neo-Liberalism:

Many protestants protested on the street about this system, which is not working for the majority of society. People are getting tired of unemployment and cutting social welfare benefits.

Conclusion:

In this chapter, the writer explained the origin of Neo-Liberalism and its key features.