Neoliberalism

Neoliberalism. The idea was built on the classical liberalism of the 18th Century and a defence of individual liberty, protecting private property and the freedom of markets from external interference - taxes, regulations, levies - as much as possible. Neoliberalism argued that the market wasn't just an absence of interference, it could produce a philosophy or a way of thinking all of its own. That meant looking at the world and at transactions in daily life through the eyes of the market. You can glimpse this, for instance, when I say, "I'm in the market for a beer" - showing that we've internalized the idea of a market for other values. Nowadays, you probably hear the word neoliberalism used more as a term of abuse - hurled by opponents at economic globalizers, nasty bankers or governments limiting spending on public works or welfare. The word neo, or new, has morphed into a way of signaling. I don't like this one bit. It's the nearest thing economic terminology has to a rotten tomato. But neoliberalism isn't just a dirty word - it's an entire mindset of approaches to the way state and market interact with our aspirations - emphasizing privatization over state control, as the best way to deliver public services.