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Not really related with the article but curiously I have yet to see anybody calls himself a "neoliberal".

by afsina 9y ago

api 9y ago
Neoliberals are found in the same place as social justice warriors, the rational economic actor, millennials, and bigfoot. (The Pacific Northwest?)
WaxProlix 9y ago
/r/neoliberal is a thing, and only a tiny bit ironic.
unethical_ban 9y ago
When I hear neoliberal, I think "Foreign Policy" kind of people like Rosa Brooks, David Rothkopf, and others that advocate for pragmatic exercise of power and diplomacy abroad, free trade and support for trade agreements like TPP, and left-wing domestic policy. My "all governments are bad, but government is good" leftist friend derisively calls me neoliberal for me thinking US has moral superiority over Russia, or that we should project power in any part of the world but our own. He's a good guy, though.
- r00fus 9y ago
  Being neoliberal doesn't really mean you believe in leftist policy. The most effective neoliberals are "centrist" and rely as much on "strong defense" and "economy uber allies" posturing as neoconservatives. Take a look at Macron in France - he sure stepped right up to a hardline of "strength over liberties" after the London attacks. I equate neoliberal with corporatist.
  - dragonwriter 9y ago
    > Being neoliberal doesn't really mean you believe in leftist policy. Neoliberalism is a right-wing (but not far-right) position. > The most effective neoliberals are "centrist" and rely as much on "strong defense" and "economy uber allies" posturing as neoconservatives. Neoconservatism is essentially the policy of using (specifically US) military force and related means to establish and secure a neoliberal international regime. The names might make you think that neoliberalism and neoconservatism are opposed, but that is not at all the case. > I equate neoliberal with corporatist. Pro-corporate capitalist would be accurate. Corporatism is a whole different thing.
Analemma_ 9y ago
I know a couple people who do. Bear in mind that "neoliberalism-the-theory", while not perfect, was a well-intentioned set of ideas and is pretty different from "neoliberalism-the-reality", which is pretty much synonymous with globalized crony capitalism. (This isn't just a neoliberalism thing: any political philosophy will be different in theory than when it has to meet the real world. Neoliberalism got bit by this harder than most because it actually did "take over the world" and, admittedly, because it pretty much sows the seeds of cronyism in its fundamental principles) Long story short, it could've been a good idea but it went badly wrong, and there are some people who are trying to figure out a way to have just the good bits.
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  > Neoliberalism got bit by this harder than most because it actually did "take over the world" No, it got bit by it because the real-world thing now called "neoliberalism" (since about the 1980s) has no connection whatsoever to the politico-economic theory called "neoliberalism"; the latter was an 1930s path between classical unconstrained capitalism and socialism, the former is just a new name applied to the internationalization of unconstrained capitalism.
stablemap 9y ago
One example: http://www.bradford-delong.com/2016/03/the-benefits-of-free-trade-time-to-fly-my-neoliberal-freak-flag-high.html http://www.bradford-delong.com/2016/03/the-benefits-of-free-...
tanderson92 9y ago
See here: https://medium.com/@s8mb/im-a-neoliberal-maybe-you-are-too-b809a2a588d6 https://medium.com/@s8mb/im-a-neoliberal-maybe-you-are-too-b... https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-05-23/centrism-takes-on-the-extremes https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-05-23/centrism-...
krrrh 9y ago
The term usually says a lot more about the person who uses it than it does the person to whom it is applied. Much like "neoconservatism" it's often shorthand for people who I disagree with, and used sloppily without reference to the history of the few who self-identified under either term. That said, with liberalism & non-populist centrism in general on the ropes in advanced democracies, I could see the term being embraced and rehabilitated. See the already mentioned /r/neoliberalism for an example that I couldn't have imagined a few years ago. Does meme magic work on centrist compromises?
- aaron-lebo 9y ago
  It is neoliberalism itself that is on the ropes. Since Reagan every single administration (Bushes, Clinton, Obama) has been neoliberal in degrees. Early roots of neoliberalism were laid in the 1970s, during the Jimmy Carter administration, with deregulation of the trucking, banking, and airline industries.[76][77][78] This trend continued into the 1980s, under the Reagan Administration, which included tax cuts, increased defense spending, financial deregulation and trade deficit expansion.[79] Likewise, concepts of supply-side economics, discussed by the Democrats in the 1970s, culminated in the 1980 Joint Economic Committee report, "Plugging in the Supply Side." This was picked up and advanced by the Reagan administration, with Congress following Reagan's basic proposal and cutting federal income taxes across the board by 25% in 1981.[80] During the 1990s, the Clinton Administration also embraced neoliberalism[68] by supporting the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, continuing the deregulation of the financial sector through passage of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act and the repeal of the Glass–Steagall Act, and implementing cuts to the welfare state through passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act.[79][81][82] The neoliberalism of the Clinton Administration differs from that of Reagan, as the Clinton Administration purged neoliberalism of neoconservative positions on militarism, family values, opposition to multiculturalism and neglect of ecological issues. You couldn't get elected in this country without being a neoliberal for the last 30 years. Bill Clinton got elected precisely because he was a relatively conservative Democrat from the south. The only reason nobody wants to identify as a neoliberal is because it has the word liberal in it and people want to get elected. Saw a similar comment the other day about neoliberalism being a newfangled nonpartisan movement (not accusing you of saying that), but the populist movements are around because of its flaws.
aerodeck 9y ago
This is what is called the ideology of no ideology. A small cadre of elite economists that convened as the Mont Pelerin Society (led by Hayek) called themselves neoliberals for a bit but stopped using the term.
SubiculumCode 9y ago
How one guys said it to me, Neoliberalism = Clinton. Then you have the Bernie Sanders liberalism, akin to FDR liberalism maybe.

Not really related with the article but curiously I have yet to see anybody calls himself a "neoliberal".

by afsina 9y ago

Not really related with the article but curiously I have yet to see anybody calls himself a "neoliberal".

api 9y ago

Neoliberals are found in the same place as social justice warriors, the rational economic actor, millennials, and bigfoot. (The Pacific Northwest?)

WaxProlix 9y ago

/r/neoliberal is a thing, and only a tiny bit ironic.

unethical_ban 9y ago

When I hear neoliberal, I think "Foreign Policy" kind of people like Rosa Brooks, David Rothkopf, and others that advocate for pragmatic exercise of power and diplomacy abroad, free trade and support for trade agreements like TPP, and left-wing domestic policy. My "all governments are bad, but government is good" leftist friend derisively calls me neoliberal for me thinking US has moral superiority over Russia, or that we should project power in any part of the world but our own. He's a good guy, though.

r00fus 9y ago
Being neoliberal doesn't really mean you believe in leftist policy. The most effective neoliberals are "centrist" and rely as much on "strong defense" and "economy uber allies" posturing as neoconservatives. Take a look at Macron in France - he sure stepped right up to a hardline of "strength over liberties" after the London attacks. I equate neoliberal with corporatist.
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  > Being neoliberal doesn't really mean you believe in leftist policy. Neoliberalism is a right-wing (but not far-right) position. > The most effective neoliberals are "centrist" and rely as much on "strong defense" and "economy uber allies" posturing as neoconservatives. Neoconservatism is essentially the policy of using (specifically US) military force and related means to establish and secure a neoliberal international regime. The names might make you think that neoliberalism and neoconservatism are opposed, but that is not at all the case. > I equate neoliberal with corporatist. Pro-corporate capitalist would be accurate. Corporatism is a whole different thing.

Analemma_ 9y ago

I know a couple people who do. Bear in mind that "neoliberalism-the-theory", while not perfect, was a well-intentioned set of ideas and is pretty different from "neoliberalism-the-reality", which is pretty much synonymous with globalized crony capitalism. (This isn't just a neoliberalism thing: any political philosophy will be different in theory than when it has to meet the real world. Neoliberalism got bit by this harder than most because it actually did "take over the world" and, admittedly, because it pretty much sows the seeds of cronyism in its fundamental principles) Long story short, it could've been a good idea but it went badly wrong, and there are some people who are trying to figure out a way to have just the good bits.

dragonwriter 9y ago
> Neoliberalism got bit by this harder than most because it actually did "take over the world" No, it got bit by it because the real-world thing now called "neoliberalism" (since about the 1980s) has no connection whatsoever to the politico-economic theory called "neoliberalism"; the latter was an 1930s path between classical unconstrained capitalism and socialism, the former is just a new name applied to the internationalization of unconstrained capitalism.

stablemap 9y ago

One example: http://www.bradford-delong.com/2016/03/the-benefits-of-free-trade-time-to-fly-my-neoliberal-freak-flag-high.html http://www.bradford-delong.com/2016/03/the-benefits-of-free-...

tanderson92 9y ago

See here: https://medium.com/@s8mb/im-a-neoliberal-maybe-you-are-too-b809a2a588d6 https://medium.com/@s8mb/im-a-neoliberal-maybe-you-are-too-b... https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-05-23/centrism-takes-on-the-extremes https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-05-23/centrism-...

krrrh 9y ago

The term usually says a lot more about the person who uses it than it does the person to whom it is applied. Much like "neoconservatism" it's often shorthand for people who I disagree with, and used sloppily without reference to the history of the few who self-identified under either term. That said, with liberalism & non-populist centrism in general on the ropes in advanced democracies, I could see the term being embraced and rehabilitated. See the already mentioned /r/neoliberalism for an example that I couldn't have imagined a few years ago. Does meme magic work on centrist compromises?

aaron-lebo 9y ago
It is neoliberalism itself that is on the ropes. Since Reagan every single administration (Bushes, Clinton, Obama) has been neoliberal in degrees. Early roots of neoliberalism were laid in the 1970s, during the Jimmy Carter administration, with deregulation of the trucking, banking, and airline industries.[76][77][78] This trend continued into the 1980s, under the Reagan Administration, which included tax cuts, increased defense spending, financial deregulation and trade deficit expansion.[79] Likewise, concepts of supply-side economics, discussed by the Democrats in the 1970s, culminated in the 1980 Joint Economic Committee report, "Plugging in the Supply Side." This was picked up and advanced by the Reagan administration, with Congress following Reagan's basic proposal and cutting federal income taxes across the board by 25% in 1981.[80] During the 1990s, the Clinton Administration also embraced neoliberalism[68] by supporting the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, continuing the deregulation of the financial sector through passage of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act and the repeal of the Glass–Steagall Act, and implementing cuts to the welfare state through passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act.[79][81][82] The neoliberalism of the Clinton Administration differs from that of Reagan, as the Clinton Administration purged neoliberalism of neoconservative positions on militarism, family values, opposition to multiculturalism and neglect of ecological issues. You couldn't get elected in this country without being a neoliberal for the last 30 years. Bill Clinton got elected precisely because he was a relatively conservative Democrat from the south. The only reason nobody wants to identify as a neoliberal is because it has the word liberal in it and people want to get elected. Saw a similar comment the other day about neoliberalism being a newfangled nonpartisan movement (not accusing you of saying that), but the populist movements are around because of its flaws.

aerodeck 9y ago

This is what is called the ideology of no ideology. A small cadre of elite economists that convened as the Mont Pelerin Society (led by Hayek) called themselves neoliberals for a bit but stopped using the term.

SubiculumCode 9y ago

How one guys said it to me, Neoliberalism = Clinton. Then you have the Bernie Sanders liberalism, akin to FDR liberalism maybe.