As the financial crisis continues to shake the global economy it has begun to expose cracks in the ideological edifice long used to justify neo-liberal policies of privatisation and austerity. This informed and accessible primer drives a wedge into these cracks, allowing the non-experts among the 99% to understand the flaws in the economic philosophy of the 1%. This is an accessible primer that explains the flaws in neo-liberal policies.
Eric Toussaint is president of the Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt (CADTM), and author of numerous books on economic policy
Table of contentsIntroductionLiberalism Eclipsed: from the 1930s upto the 1970sLiberal ideology returns with a vengeance: the 1970sThe theoretical foundation of the various neo-liberal currentsForerunners of the neo-liberalsAdam SmithJean-Baptiste SayDavid RicardoOther economists The Keynesian revolutionPreparing the neo-liberal counter-revolutionThe neo-liberal wave Robert Lucas and the denial of involuntary unemploymentFree markets ensure the optimum allocation of resources - a key postulate of neo-conservatismPortraying the oppressed as oppressors: the neo-liberal sleight of handGlobalization from Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama until todayThe market: the new faith Shanghai The Irish crisis: a complete failure for neo-liberalism Bibliography