Neo-liberalism

Michael Hoover hoov at freenet.tlh.fl.us
Thu May 20 18:36:35 PDT 1999



> I am at times puzzled, confused, dismayed and outraged by the uses of the term
> Neo-liberalism.
> In my youth Liberal Democrats believed in unions, safety nets and progressive
> taxation. Conservative Republicans were against unions, safety nets and wanted
> none or regressive taxation.
> To label today's corporate drive for world domination as Neo-liberalism is like
> saying that black is white.
> Please enlighten me as to the origin, history, meaning and purpose of
> Neo-liberalism.
> Shouldn't it be called Neo-conservatism? TIA.
> Bert

other folks have pointed that the revival of interest in classical liberalism in the last quarter century has generally been termed - except in the US - neo-liberalism...

in the US, the term neo-liberal was used for a time in the '80s and early '90s to identify, among others, the likes of Paul Tsongas and Michael Dukakis (and Bill Clinton)...intellectuals included Robert Reich, Lester Thurow, Charles Peters (*Washington Monthly* magazine editor), Charles Anderson (who used the term 'pragmatic liberalism')... investment banker Felix Rohatyn was sometimes identified with this 'group'...

the politics responded to business interests, focused on economic growth & global economic competitiveness, stressed limits to social policy, and proposed technocratic/managerial solutions to problems...

the lineage of this US variant of neo-liberalism included JFK, FDR, the so-called progressive era, and Alexander Hamilton (the first patron of US capitalism)... Michael Hoover



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