What is 'Neo-Liberalism'

[Brad DeLong]

>What is "Neo-Liberalism"?
>
>
>A brief definition for activists
>
>by Elizabeth Martinez and Arnoldo Garcia
>
>
>Around the world, neo-liberalism has been imposed by powerful 
>financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), 
>the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. It is raging 
>all over Latin America. The first clear example of neo-liberalism at 
>work came in Chile (with thanks to University of Chicago economist 
>Milton Friedman), after the CIA-supported coup against the popularly 
>elected Allende regime in 1973. Other countries followed, with some 
>of the worst effects in Mexico where wages declined 40 to 50% in the 
>first year of NAFTA while the cost of living rose by 80%. Over 
>20,000 small and medium businesses have failed and more than 1,000 
>state-owned enterprises have been privatized in Mexico. As one 
>scholar said, "Neoliberalism means the neo-colonization of Latin 
>America."

Isn't it time to admit that Chile's *economic* development strategy 
over the past thirty years has been, broadly, a success? Chilean per 
capita GDP has doubled since 1980--and increases in inequality have 
been modest...

And isn't it time to admit that NAFTA did not significantly decrease 
wages in the United States? And that it has boosted trade between the 
U.S. and Mexico? And that guaranteed tariff-free access to the 
American market is likely in the long run to be a very good thing for 
urban Mexico? (However, competition from Iowa is unlikely to be good 
news for rural grain-growing Mexico.)

Brad DeLong