- The global application of a fraudulent economic theory brought the west to its knees. Yet for those in power, it offers riches
So there are two things that strike me about neoliberalism, one positive and one negative. First, the positive. Over the last two decades world poverty has been cut in half as free trade has created an environment where places like Viet Nam, India and China now have tons of manufacturing and services to export. That's a hard thing to argue with, even if developed nations have gone down a tick.
On the negative side, all these indicators that neoliberalism has been a net negative for the average American or European make one wonder why we haven't done anything about it. After the Depression, New Deal policies were put in place to help the average Joe get back on his feet. Why nothing of the sort today? What is it this time around that makes Joe think that keeping the government's hand off his gun and into his wife's reproductive tract is more important than a larger paycheck? I really haven't a clue.
- Why nothing of the sort today?
The Great Crash was also the rise of Keynes. Since then, we've been assured that Keynes is discredited, presumably because of a brazen misinterpretation of stagflation, and somehow people have been convinced that the public deficit is a problem rather than a solution.
Which points to a more general point... Progressives will be fucked until they can do away with this pinnacle of idiocy, both among themselves and in the public:
- The welfare bill approved by parliament last week will not help to clear the deficit
Clearing the deficit is not a sane objective while aggregate demand is depressed, if one's objective is to increase aggregate demand. As one actually competent commentator puts it, lowering the deficit is like treating blood loss with bloodletting.
The evidence is clear that slashing spending during times of depressed employment exacerbates the problem. So the question then becomes, are right wing politicians not convinced by the evidence for some unknown reason (a la global warming and biology), or are they just demagoging to hold onto what power they have remaining?