It differs from "American" or "New Deal" or "20th century" liberalism, a.k.a. social democracy with no trade-union or labor-party base.
Both kinds of liberalism involve trying to solve the issue of reconciling the "public interest" with "private interests" within the context of a capitalist class system (which is taken for granted). Neo-liberalism emphasizes the market's invisible hand, while New Deal liberalism sees the government's helping hand as complementary.
Both types of liberalism face a conflict between theory (see above) and practice. Neo-liberalism is typically a matter of "give business what it wants" (which is not true laissez-faire, as market libertarians will tell you). New Deal liberalism often serves private interests (big business, government officials, established labor unions, etc.)
On 5/23/06, Dwayne Monroe <idoru345 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Ulhas asks:
>
> What is specifially orthodox (or "neo-liberal?)about
> Indian economic policy? It is not socialist, I agree,
> but what do you mean "orthodoxy"?
>
>
>
> And on, Dec 7, 2005, in the "Harvey" thread you wrote:
>
> I don't know what people exactly mean by the term "neo
> liberal".
>
>
> ========================
>
>
> This comes up quite often.
>
>
> If you search the LBO Talk archives for
> "neoliberalism" -
> <http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/pipermail/lbo-talk/> -
>
> you'll note that 896 results are returned.
>
> Of course, not all of these entries offer a
> comprehensive review of neoliberalism but several do.
>
> For example, on Oct 8, 2005, Chuck Grimes posted a
> review of David Harvey's "A Brief History of
> Neoliberalism" -
>
> <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0199283265/002-1536914-2835207?v=glance&n=283155>
>
> (perhaps the definitive overview to-date). Chuck's
> post is titled "Harvey's history of neoliberalism".
>
>
> Due to length, the review, taken from Interactivist
> Info Exchange -
>
> <http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=05/09/29/0511228>
>
>
> - is broken into three posts:
>
>
>
> Part 1
>
> <http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/pipermail/lbo-talk/Week-of-Mon-20051003/022216.html>
>
> Part 2
>
> <http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/pipermail/lbo-talk/Week-of-Mon-20051003/022217.html>
>
> Part 3
>
> <http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/pipermail/lbo-talk/Week-of-Mon-20051003/022218.html>
>
>
>
> Needless to say, neoliberalism has been extensively
> discussed on this list. At this point, I'm more
> curious about your persistent question - "what is
> neoliberalism" - which endures despite repeated
> attempts to explain (with nary a reply from you) than
> I am about the point/counter points.
>
>
>
> .d.
>
>
>
>
> ---------
> With any luck, Tom Cruise's ride on the crazy train will remove him from our screens in two, three years tops.
>
> SMB
>
>
> http://monroelab.net/blog/
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>
-- Jim Devine / "These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people." -- Abraham Lincoln (attributed)