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If Neoliberalism Were a Medical Doctor, It would Have Been Struck Off a Long Time Ago…
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When Milton Friedman went on a crusade, extolling the virtues of Neoliberalism in 1970s, the Nobel prize winning economist always made a point of stating how bloated and ineffective the state had become.
We were told that the state had got too big and was the cause of every ill in western society.
Frederick Hayek, a middling economist, who had written The Road to Serfdom, during his days in Europe, found an audience among the neoliberal set, had also learnt his voice to the arguments of the Brooklyn born Friedman, using his background in Europe, as a reference point.
And what were Friedman’s prescriptions?
Deregulation of the financial sector, with little oversight from the overbearing state, devaluation of the currency to make it much more competitive and democracy, to ensure that the police are on hand to deal with those who may violently oppose the destructive effects of neoliberalism.
No sooner had these prescriptions were implemented in Reagan’s America than we began to see its worst effects in the lives of millions of citizens, when those dependent on the state for support had their welfare checks cut, plunging people in to desperate poverty.