A discussion of the consequences of neo-liberalism.
This paper provides an insight into “Neo-liberalism”, a set of economic policies that have become widespread during the last 25 years or so. It looks at how the capitalist crisis over the last 25 years, with its shrinking profit rates, inspired the corporate elite to revive economic liberalism and that’s what makes it neo or ?new?. It defines some of its main features such as cutting public expenditure for social services and deregulation and discusses how around the world, neo-liberalism has been imposed by powerful financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank and it is raging all over Latin America. It evaluates the social, cultural, political and economical consequences as well as its effect on globalization. It concludes by asking the question of what kind of society do we want faced with a new kind of economic determinism that assumes that it is the only possible option and that all aspects of human life ? political, social and cultural ? are determined by the profit motive.
Neo-liberal economics empowers and enriches big business, especially multinational corporations, and impoverishes damned near everyone else, including workers, peasants, the middle class and small business. Monetary policies attack wages through high interest rates and high unemployment. Unemployment, reduced wages and expensive credit all dramatically increase the amount of unwaged work we have to do to survive. Financial deregulation has diverted profits from new machines to all kinds of unproductive speculation. Industrial restructuring breaks workers’ power and increases that of corporate capital.