In the first part of this blog (July 13, 2016) – Brexit signals that a new policy paradigm is required including re-nationalisation – I suggested that re-nationalisation of certain sectors has to return as a key industry policy plank for any aspiring progressive political party.
Bill Mitchell – billy blog
The case for re-nationalisation – Part 2
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Affichage des articles dont le libellé est neoliberalism. Afficher tous les articles
Affichage des articles dont le libellé est neoliberalism. Afficher tous les articles
Mariana Mazzucato and Michael Jacobs — If Theresa May is serious about inequality she’ll ditch Osbornomics
The inequality speech could have been lifted from Ed Miliband. But if she really means it she must reverse austerity and introduce a new industrial strategy.The Guardian — Opinion
If Theresa May is serious about inequality she’ll ditch Osbornomics
Mariana Mazzucato and Michael Jacobs
Bill Mitchell — Towards a progressive concept of efficiency – Part 2
This is Part 2 of my discussion of how a progressive agenda can escape the straitjacket of neo-liberal thinking and broaden how it presents policy initiatives that have been declared taboo in the current conservative, free market Groupthink. Today, I compare and contrast the neo-liberal vision of efficiency, which is embedded in its view of the relationship between the people, the natural environment and the economy, with what I consider to be a progressive vision, which elevates our focus to Society and sees people embedded organically and necessarily within the living natural environment. It envisions an economy that is created by us, controlled by us and capable of delivering outcomes which advance the well-being of all citizens rather than being a vehicle to advance the prosperity of only a small proportion of citizens.…Bill Mitchell – billy blog
Towards a progressive concept of efficiency – Part 2
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia
William R. Neil — “The continuing tension between Neoliberal economics and democracy”
Today’s Neoliberalism had nearly silenced serious left dissent by the late 1990s, or successfully isolated it in remote academic corners. Bill Clinton’s two terms in the 1990s are proof of that. And there is the continuing tension between Neoliberal economics and democracy: notice the desperate, barely concealed attempt by the Republican Right to shrink the franchise, using as one of its main levers the racial stigmas from “The Great Incarceration” and the yet to be proven accusations of voter fraud.Real-World Economics Review Blog
This political “shunning” of the left happens even in the supposedly liberal Ivy League. The late political theorist Sheldon Wolin (1922-2015), shortly before his death, in an interview with Chris Hedges, spoke of the silent treatment he was given by the faculty at Princeton University when he placed a copy of his new magazine “Democracy” on the faculty lounge coffee table. He was shunned. Perhaps they did not like where he was going with his last book, or could see it coming much earlier: Democracy Inc.: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism (2008). Here is that interview, Segment Seven from a nine part series at the RealNewsNetwork.…
“The continuing tension between Neoliberal economics and democracy”
William R. Neil
Bill Mitchell — Towards a progressive concept of efficiency – Part 1
Before I present the second part of my discussion about the relevance of re-nationalisation to what I would call a truly progressive policy agenda, we have to take a step backward. I note after the first part – Brexit signals that a new policy paradigm is required including re-nationalisation – there were a few comments posted (and many more E-mails received – apparently readers are happier berating me personally rather than putting their ideas out in the public domain) that I was advocating a return to the ‘bad’ old days of nationalisation where cronyism, inefficiency and trade union bastardry were the norm. The obvious next point was – how can I claim that is progressive and part of the future. In this two part blog (the second part will come tomorrow), I offer a framework for assessing these claims. Today’s blog foscuses on the neo-liberal vision of efficiency and reveals how narrow and biased towards private profit it is. In Part 2 (tomorrow) I will present the progressive vision and how it conditions the way we think of efficiency. Once we break out of the neo-liberal constructs and refocus our attention on Society rather than the individual then the way we appraise policy options also changes – it becomes enriched with new possibilities and understandings. We enter the progressive world and leave behind the austerity nightmare that neo-liberalism has created. We are then able to see how our old conceptions of nationalised industries or public sector job creation are tainted with these neo-liberal biases. And we are then able to see how policy initiatives that invoke scorn from the conservatives and many so-called modern progressives (obsessed with post modern constructs) have a vital role to play in a truly progressive manifesto. I split the discussion into two parts because the blogs are too long as they are.
This blog is part of Part 3 of next book (with co-author, Italian journalist Thomas Fazi), which is nearing completion. Part 3 will present what we are calling a ‘Progressive Manifesto’ to guide policy design and policy choices for governments that are struggling to see a way beyond the neo-liberal macroeconomics which we posit blights any hope of mounting a progressive agenda.
We also hope that the ‘Manifesto’ will empower community groups by demonstrating that the TINA mantra, where these alleged goals of the amorphous global financial markets are prioritised over real goals like full employment, renewable energy and revitalised manufacturing sectors is bereft and a range of policy options, now taboo in this neo-liberal world, are available.…Bill Mitchell – billy blog
Towards a progressive concept of efficiency – Part 1
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Yves Smith — Michael Hudson: William Goetzmann’s Money Changes Everything – A Travesty of Financial History Which Bank Lobbyists Will Applaud
Yves here. I received a review copy of Goeetzmann”s book, and I recoiled when I read the blurb. It was such an obvious example of orthodox propaganda that it went straight into the rubbish bin.
But sadly, the book is being touted by the usual suspects, such as the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times, as authoritative on the origins of money when it is unadulterated Austrian twattle. So Hudson is to be commended for doing the unpleasant but important task of slogging through the nonsense and debunking it. Please read his post and circulate it widely.…More elite propaganda. Many if not most of them likely believe their own BS.
Naked Capitalism
Michael Hudson: William Goetzmann’s Money Changes Everything – A Travesty of Financial History Which Bank Lobbyists Will Applaud
Yves Smith
Zero Hedge — "The Resentment Will Explode" - In Dramatic Twist, McKinsey Slams Globalization
In a stunning study released today, one which effectively refutes all its prior conclusions on the matter, McKinsey slams the establishment's status quo thinking and admits that the economic gains of changes in the global economy have not been widely shared lately, especially in the developed world. In the report titled "Poorer Than Their Parents? Flat or Falling Incomes in Advanced Economies" it finds that prospects for income growth have deteriorated significantly since the financial crisis, and that the benefits from globalization are now over:…
To be sure, just like the IMF's U-turn on austerity after the failure of the second Greek bailout, McKinsey was unwilling to admit it has flop-flopped on such a critical position. Instead, Dobbs described the institute's stance on globalization as an "evolution," not a reversal. "We’re not saying throw it all out. ... It’s about a sophistication in our thinking," he said. The McKinsey Global Institute still sees value in offshoring, immigration, trade, and so forth, Dobbs said: "Generally we’re pro those, but there’s a however, and we need to be more aware of the however."Same can be said for the foreign policy and military policy aspect lead by the US as the world's remaining superpower and only functioning empire.
It's all part of a planned effort to impose liberalism globally to promote transnational corporatism, with all government being configured as economic agents subject to market forces under rules imposed by "the free world" because "freedom and democracy" when it is about opening markets and and securing resources.
Now that the pain is being shared by ordinary people of the home countries, the pushback is mounting.
Zero Hedge
"The Resentment Will Explode" - In Dramatic Twist, McKinsey Slams Globalization
Submitted by Tyler Durden
Peter Cooper — Neoliberalism – The Attempt to Subsume Society into “the Market”
The term ‘neoliberalism’ refers to an economic program of deregulation, privatization, trade liberalization, corporatization and small government – a project to subject more and more economic activity to the whims of “the market”. At its core, neoliberalism is an attempt to make profitability the governing principle in all economic calculation. For this neoliberal aspiration to be approximated in reality, government must behave as if it is just another market participant. It must pretend to be subject to the same financial constraints as private corporations and to share their need for revenue. It requires maintaining the pretense that government has no capacity to act independently of markets; that there is no capacity for autonomous social action independent of markets; in fact, that there is no such thing as society. In short, obey the market, because there is no alternative. We are powerless to stand in its way. Or so the superstition goes.…heteconomist
Neoliberalism – The Attempt to Subsume Society into “the Market”
Peter Cooper
Bill Mitchell — Brexit signals that a new policy paradigm is required including re-nationalisation
With the new British Prime Minister now indicating that she will push ahead with Brexit and free the nation from the undemocratic imposts of the increasingly dysfunctional European Union, a view that is apparently ‘poisonous’ to some so-called progressive writers, several pro-Remain economists or economic commentators have realised that the game is up for neo-liberalism in Britain. There have been several articles recently arguing (after bitching about the loss of the Remain vote and repeating the catastrophe mantra) that a new economic paradigm is now called for in Britain, based on its new found sovereignty (after it finally exits). It could, by the way, exit through an Act of Parliament without all the Article 50 palaver if it wanted to. That is just a smokescreen. This idea of a new paradigm being required is exactly what Thomas Fazi and I are working on as part of our current book project which is nearing completion. Today, I consider briefly our view that nationalisation has to return as a key industry policy plank for any aspiring progressive political party.…Bill Mitchell – billy blog
Brexit signals that a new policy paradigm is required including re-nationalisation
Bill Mitchell | Professor in Economics and Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), at University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Manuela Cadelli, President of Belgian Magistrates — Neoliberalism is a form of Fascism
The time for rhetorical reservations is over. Things have to be called by their name to make it possible for a co-ordinated democratic reaction to be initiated, above all in the public services.
Liberalism was a doctrine derived from the philosophy of Enlightenment, at once political and economic, which aimed at imposing on the state the necessary distance for ensuring respect for liberties and the coming of democratic emancipation. It was the motor for the arrival, and the continuing progress, of Western democracies.
Neoliberalism is a form of economism in our day that strikes at every moment at every sector of our community. It is a form of extremism.
Fascism may be defined as the subordination of every part of the State to a totalitarian and nihilistic ideology.
I argue that neoliberalism is a species of fascism because the economy has brought under subjection not only the government of democratic countries but also every aspect of our thought.
The state is now at the disposal of the economy and of finance, which treat it as a subordinate and lord over it to an extent that puts the common good in jeopardy.…Transnational corporate totalitarianism.
Defend Democracy Press
The President of Belgian Magistrates: Neoliberalism is a form of Fascism
Manuela Cadelli, President of the Magistrates’ Union of Belgium
Published in the Belgian daily Le Soir, 3.3.2016
Translated from French by Wayne Hall
ht Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism
Daniella Medina— Class Interests & Discordant Politics: Brexit & the Trump Campaign
Levy Institute grad students' blog that is unabashedly leftist.
The ascent of conservative capitalism- in the US under Reagan and George Bush Sr. and in the UK under Thatcher- meant tax cuts, the erosion of labor unions, and new regulations imposed on the economy. These economic regime changes were based on the mainstream theoretical presupposition that what we really needed to do was create an economic environment conducive to unbarred corporate innovation and investment and eagerly accept international policy which, together, opened the proverbial floodgates allowing neoliberalism to leak all over the globe. What a mess.I would take issue with the phase, "allowing neoliberalism to leak all over the globe." The reality is that this was the intention, and it was imposed internationally by the Anglo-American interests, that is to say, the international finance and translational corporatism the rule the US and UK, along with the deep state bent on global hegemony.
"Allow neoliberalism to leak all over the globe" is not correct way to characterize this. This suggests the natural order that is supposed to arise spontaneously with liberalization, deregulation and privatization, whereas the reality is that neoliberalism was imposed domestically and internationally through oligarchic, plutocratic and militaristic rule masquerading as democracy and government of, by and for the people, in which the elected government acts in the interest of all and spreads the benefits of liberty internationally.
The Minskys
Class Interests & Discordant Politics: Brexit & the Trump Campaign