Skip to main content

Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problems

Financial meltdown, environmental disaster and even the rise of Donald Trump – neoliberalism has played its part in them all. Why has the left failed to come up with an alternative?

by George Monbiot

PART 5

For all that, there is something admirable about the neoliberal project, at least in its early stages. It was a distinctive, innovative philosophy promoted by a coherent network of thinkers and activists with a clear plan of action. It was patient and persistent. The Road to Serfdom became the path to power.

Neoliberalism’s triumph also reflects the failure of the left. When laissez-faire economics led to catastrophe in 1929, Keynes devised a comprehensive economic theory to replace it. When Keynesian demand management hit the buffers in the 70s, there was an alternative ready. But when neoliberalism fell apart in 2008 there was ... nothing. This is why the zombie walks. The left and centre have produced no new general framework of economic thought for 80 years.

Every invocation of Lord Keynes is an admission of failure. To propose Keynesian solutions to the crises of the 21st century is to ignore three obvious problems. It is hard to mobilise people around old ideas; the flaws exposed in the 70s have not gone away; and, most importantly, they have nothing to say about our gravest predicament: the environmental crisis. Keynesianism works by stimulating consumer demand to promote economic growth. Consumer demand and economic growth are the motors of environmental destruction.

What the history of both Keynesianism and neoliberalism show is that it’s not enough to oppose a broken system. A coherent alternative has to be proposed. For Labour, the Democrats and the wider left, the central task should be to develop an economic Apollo programme, a conscious attempt to design a new system, tailored to the demands of the 21st century.

Source:


[1] [2] [3] [4]

Read also:



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

F-35s & AI Chips: How MBS Outplayed Washington & Beijing

GVS Deep Dive  Saudi Arabia just secured two of the most powerful assets in modern geopolitics: the U.S. F-35 stealth fighter and tens of thousands of Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips. Washington hoped this would pull Riyadh firmly back into the American orbit. But the outcome is something neither side fully expected: Mohammad bin Salman outplayed both Washington and Beijing — and used the great-power rivalry to his advantage.
Post a Comment
Read more

Greece, Palestine & Zionism: FPTV Reports from Athens

Free Palestine TV   Laith Marouf & Rabih Ghannam travel to Athens, Greece, and take a walking tour with local activists Evan Katsounis and Maria Kosmidi, to discover the rich history of anti-Zionist and anti-Fascist actions in the city, as well as the current Zionist incursion into the property sector and the counter actions directed at the presence of these War Criminals on the streets of the city. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Trump BLEW IT: Israel, Candace Owens & Epstein BURY MAGA (But Not How You Think)

Danny Haiphong   Trump has bent the knee to Israel for the last time. Patrick Henningsen exposes his horrid record and all the elements that has led to his rapidly coming collapse. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Trump RUINED: Israel First Lies & Economic Freefall Just ENDED MAGA

Danny Haiphong   Tucker Carlson isn't the only journalist breaking with Trump. In this video, Patrick Henningsen goes scorched earth on Trump's massive betrayal of what he promised his "MAGA" base and blows the lid off how his massive lies serve as a cover up for a much bigger structural problem in America's 'Israel First' political system, what Tucker and major voices in elite MAGA won't tell you.  
Post a Comment
Read more

Capitalism & Genocide - Yanis Varoufakis Speech at the Gaza Tribunal, 23rd October 2025, Istanbul

Yanis Varoufakis   On 23rd October, Yanis Varoufakis testified in front of the Jury of Conscience in the context of the Gaza Tribunal. His speech focused on the economic forces underpinning the genocide of the Palestinian people. In particular, he spoke on the manner in which capitalist dynamics have historically fuelled the white settler colonial project and, more recently, how the accumulation of a new form of capital - which he calls cloud capital - has accelerated, deepened and amplified the economic forces powering and propelling the machinery of genocide. 
Post a Comment
Read more

Varoufakis: IT technologies will overthrow Capitalism

globinfo freexchange The former Greek Minister of Finance, Yanis Varoufakis, ended his recent speech on the Future of Capitalism, at the New School, New York, with some interesting remarks. As he said: The world we live in, is increasingly rudderless, in a constant slow burning recession, while at the very same time, the increasing concentration in the IT sector is creating the new technologies that will do that which the Left has failed to do: overthrow Capitalism. It is really very simple. The moment machines pass the Turing test properly, and you pick up the phone and you do not know whether the person you are talking to is a human being or a machine ˙ the moment we are going to have 3D printers operating as public utilities - you can send any blueprint to it and it can print from one pin to a motorcycle, or to a car - the moment that this happens, we have not just a process of Schumpeterian creative destruction, but we have a process where economies of sc...
2 comments
Read more

Racing Extinction

suggested by failedevolution.blogspot 18th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival Scientists predict that humanity’s footprint on the planet may cause the loss of 50% of all species by the end of the century. They believe we have entered the sixth major extinction in Earth’s history, following the fifth great extinction which took out the dinosaurs. Our era is called the Anthropocene, or “Age of Man,” because evidence shows that humanity has sparked a cataclysmic change of the world’s natural environment and animal life. Yet, we are the only ones who can stop the change we have created. The Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS), the group behind the Academy Award-winning film The Cove, is back with a new groundbreaking documentary. Joined by new innovators, this highly charged, impassioned collective of activists brings a voice to the thousands of species teetering on the very edge of life. The director has crafted an ambitious mission to clearly and artfu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Trump Welcomes Syrian Leader & “REFORMED” TERRORIST To White House!

The Jimmy Dore Show   President Donald Trump is planning a White House welcome for Syria’s new president, former al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who was installed after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad. Jimmy Dore argues that the U.S. and its allies, including Israel, have long funded extremist groups such as ISIS and al-Qaeda to serve foreign policy interests in the Middle East, so the embrace of al-Sharaa makes sense, even if it might confuse anyone who thought we took seriously the so-called “War on Terror.” He and Americans’ Comedian Kurt Metzger contrast Trump’s willingness to meet with alleged terrorists to his refusal to engage in dialogue with leaders like Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, accusing U.S. policy of hypocrisy and imperialism.  
Post a Comment
Read more

A response to misinformation on Nicaragua: it was a coup, not a ‘massacre’

There is so much misinformation in mainstream corporate media about recent events in Nicaragua that it is a pity that Mary Ellsberg’s article for Pulse has added to it with a seemingly leftish critique. Ellsberg claims that recent articles, including from this website, often “ paint a picture of the crisis in Nicaragua that is dangerously misleading. ” Unfortunately, her own article does just that. It looks at the situation entirely from the perspective of those opposing Daniel Ortega’s government while whitewashing their malevolent behavior and downplaying the levels of US support they have relied on. Her piece is an incomplete depiction of what is happening on the ground, ignoring many salient facts that have come to light and which have been outdated by recent events. The following is a brief response to Ellsberg’s main points from someone who lives in Nicaragua and has observed the situation directly and intimately: https://grayzoneproject.com/2018/08/15/a-res...
Post a Comment
Read more

Maduro's opening to China

“ Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday said he hopes Venezuela will use bilateral financing mechanisms and channel more funds to the areas of energy, mining, agriculture and industry while meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.” “ Financing mechanisms between the two countries total more than 50 billion U.S. dollars, according to Venezuelan experts. Financing mechanisms, including the China-Venezuela Fund, have provided financial support for some 256 projects. China and Venezuela upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership during Xi's visit to Venezuela in 2014, opening a new chapter in bilateral ties.” “ During their meeting, Xi called on the two sides to push bilateral ties to a higher-level. China supports Venezuela's efforts in restructuring its economy and establishing a manufacturing economic model, he said. Xi suggested the two countries push forward cooperation in the fields of oil exploration, infrastru...
Post a Comment
Read more