The state has not become weaker but its power is usually used in different ways than before. Remember, the age old debate of whether the state should let the f

The state has not become weaker but its power is usually used in different ways than before. Remember, the age old debate of whether the state should let the free market operate, or regulate away market failure, with bitter debate on this for over a century. Neoliberalism breaks out of this framework altogether. It says that the job of the state is to actively force an unregulated market everywhere. This active roles means discouraging unions, being part of international free trade agreements, bailing out businesses, encouraging allowing monopolies, etc. This is what the power of the state is used for today. Of course, the power is not unlimited, so in times of great need like today, we do get a temporary halt to economic activity. See for instance, http://cult320sp15.onmason.com/files/2015/01/Harvey.NeoliberalismAsCreativeDestruction.pdf http://cult320sp15.onmason.com/files/2015/01/Harvey.Neoliber...