A Brief History Of Neoliberalism Analysis

In “A Brief History of Neoliberalism,” David Harvey does not tell his audience whether or not neoliberalism is a good economic system. Instead he raises important questions about the system itself and lets the reader answer them for themselves. Harvey simply provides the reader with the information about how we got to where we are today. As citizens of the neoliberal era, this philosophy isn’t anything really new to us. However, the word neoliberalism has a mysterious feel to it. It is likely that the average person would not be able to explain what neoliberalism is despite being faced with neoliberal policy on a daily basis. It is becoming increasingly important for younger generations to learn more about the neoliberal system because it

It holds that the social good will be maximized by maximizing the reach and frequency of market transactions, and it seeks to bring all human action into the domain of the market.’ (p. 3) However, this thinking is simply a way to justify the policies used to restore class power while leaving the lower classes to fend for themselves. One of the many ways neoliberalism was able to be implemented was because neoliberal policy makers marketed it as a programmatic attempt to bring back individual freedoms. However, the “freedoms it embodies reflect the interests of private property owners, businesses, multinational corporations and financial capital.” (p. 7) Neoliberal policymakers do not care about the freedoms of the working class people. This can be seen in the New York fiscal crisis before Reagan was elected and even after Reagan was elected when the air traffic controllers went on

This is seen in Michael Moore’s documentary, where he documents the lives of families as their homes are being disclosed because they could no longer afford to live in them. Due to neoliberal policies that increased the cost of their homes, these families were basically robbed out of their own homes. Neoliberalism also makes it more difficult for working people to afford essential programs like healthcare, education and even the right to own a home. Under this system, all of the work done by President Roosevelt, to create a welfare state, was undone. This was seen in countries all around the world. During the rise of neoliberalism, the working people of the globe saw an ‘extraction of rents from patents and intellectual property rights and the diminution or erasure of various forms of common property rights (such as state pensions, paid vacations, and access to education and health care)’ (p. 160). Neoliberalism, therefore, can only continue its process of accumulation by dispossessing people of what they own, or to what they have always had rights. Clearly, working people here at working under a disadvantageous system, that works against