Neo-liberalism, the doctrine of the powerful

Neo-liberalism, the doctrine of the powerful
 It's need to understand what is neoliberalism, an address of economic thought, or rather an economic doctrine that proposes the model of nineteenth-century liberalism in its purest version, which aims to eliminate the state of the market, believing that this will promote free competition and a form of "self-regulation" of the market. How to say it in a nursery, let the kids free from all self-rule would ensure un'equilibrizzazione the same. What do we need to convince, it will not happen. Leave rein to market would transform the world into a jungle, far worse than where we are now. The allusion to the children of asylum is not random, a large financial company, or a multinational corporation does not behave very differently: he wants to selfishly maximize profits without regard to the exploitation of workers, resources, or your violation of the laws, tends to monopolize their domain and tries in every way to exclude smaller competitors doing "sign" with his simili.Lo State is the only one who has the power to establish a equiibrio in the market and assogettarlo to what the market should serve: the development social and job creation. With the revenge of liberal economic doctrine from the late 70s to the center of the goals of Western countries is no longer a man, but the profit. And unfortunately those who think that profit is used for social development, should analyze the data on the growing disparity between rich and poor continues obsolescienza on the products we create, and should begin to reflect on the words of the economist Perroux "the future will belong to the countries with poverty can generate profit 'consequently evaluating the effects of this formula applied to the USA, where the maximization of corporate profits has created a population able to consume and produce at the lowest cost, with the false situation of men free, but in reality debt slaves. The average American 30 years, is in charge of two loans: one on the house and the University Studies (only those on average $ 80,000), pay the hire rate, and must decide whether to send their children to a good school or if make health insurance. They have psychologically transformed this "choice" in "freedom", and they made a whole people can not understand that a man who must choose between their health and their children's education is not a free man!

Neoliberalism is an offshoot of globalization chapter, incredibly undervalued in contemporary history. In the history books, especially textbooks, the issue is dealt with en passant referring to Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher: the conservative leaders who have introduced in the early eighties, in domestic politics, radical reforms in the liberal sense. In fact, the characters in this story, with deep roots and the global effects, there are many more, but less "popular".
Friederich von Heyek the head of the Austrian School, and Milton Friedman and his Chicago school for example. The ideological guru of this economic doctrine. But it all began in the eighteenth century with Adam Smith and his theory of the "invisible hand"; David Ricardo formulated the theory of free trade starting from the condition of England's industrial revolution: a dominant country in the world, with cutting-edge technology and a vast colonial empire to exploit. On the theoretical basis were abolished the corn laws (customs duties to protect the British wheat) and advocated the laissez-faire (no state interference in the economy and society) as universally valid recipe for industrial development.
It was the crisis of 1929 to mark permanently the political-economic thought that a few decades ago began to assume the nature of state intervention in the market. A pioneer of this other possible economy was the British John Maynard Keynes with the fundamental text of The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936). The political experience of the Swedish social democracy was already drawing up plans for deeper integration between free market action and socio-economic status; the collapse of the American economy in 1929 marked the end of confidence in the system of free trade that had allowed him to climb to finance the real economy, literally disconnecting from it. The new administration of Frank Delano Roosevelt defile the liberal doctrine and invented the "New Deal".
In Italy the regime of Benito Mussolini had long hindered liberalism and was giving considerable space to what Winston Churchill called the fascist Third Way between socialism and capitalism. Were periods of great social reforms and major state interventions in the real world of economics and finance. E 'especially the case dell'I.R.I. (Institute for Reconstruction Industrale) that will cope with the crisis that followed the big mistake of fascism with the collapse of the lira in 1927 (90 share) and then resist the depression of '29. The IRI is the case of remembering, will undergo major privatizations, such as Eni, Enel and Telecom, first in the 80s with the leadership of Romano Prodi and then in the 90s to be totally dismantled with the entry of Italy in '€ uro. Recall that even in 1992 the IRI appeared the seventh largest company in the world after six American companies.

Despite the frightening growth of economies across the world since the early 30's, a small group of professors and students developed a new doctrine, anti-keynes. The center of this current of thought was the University of Chicago and the Great was the ideologue of the Austrian School economist Friedrich von Heydek. His lectures advocated an ideal world entirely governed by economic laws, without interference from the state. A world obviously unreal; in reality instead of millions of people in Europe and America in the 50s and 60s could be cured free of charge, receive income even in situations of illness, injury, vacation, unemployment; access to a retirement pension; take advantage of decent facilities for education, child care; efficient use of rail transport systems, new roads and sliding, finally livable neighborhoods ... and so on. The economies "help" from the state capital, often by nationalized companies, they provided essential services at low prices: electricity, water, gas became common in homes of the main towns of the industrialized countries.

In the 70's gave way this new doctrine, aided by men of high finance that began to fear the power of the labor contract and the redistribution of wealth, and the charismatic student Heydek, the American Milton Friedman had an easy game in economic framework made ​​unstable by the oil crisis that followed the Yom Kippur War. The recipe is shown by Friedman in his Capitalism and Freedom, and is the reference map for the policies that have dominated the world from the 80s to today, and that often lead us to reflect on Austerity policies of the European Union:

1) Deregulation: taking up the theory of Ricardo abolition of customs duties, taxes, and more generally protectionist, is called for the cancellation of all the rules and regulations that limit the accumulation of profit. Also reiterated the liberalization of capital flows, which eventually induce companies to invest their capital in countries where labor was cheaper (in Chinese) by removing work to Western workers and limiting their purchasing power. The deregulation of the banking system hymned in this theory will also lead to the abolition of the Glass Steagall Act that separated until then investment banks savings banks, making prey of speculators also the capital of savers.

2) Privatization is the cornerstone of neo-liberalism. Starting from the dogma of the greater efficiency of the private than the public (which is not true as evidenced by the products of increasingly poor than in the past, the result of planned obsolescence, and as is demonstrated by the case in Italy Alfa Romeo), is called for the replacement of public services with private and privatized. Friedman proposed the privatization of Health, Post Office, School, Pensions and National Parks.

3) Reduction in social spending: to clean up the economy was polluted by the activity must be drastically reduced social spending. Cut the funds for the pension system, health care, the wage unemployment and so on. Friedman insisted very much on reducing taxes; should be low and independent of the fixed income taxation (which he was happy the rich).

The great era of speculation has revived the scenario where finance is king when it should be subservient to the economy. This is demonstrated by the performance of the American stock exchanges, where once again proves the finance disconnected from the economy. If you look at the trend graphs of Wall Street is known as despite the failure of large financial giants and industrial developments, and the pressing economic downturn after the collapse of 2007/2008 Nasdaqil value of equity securities is steadily rising and no bank is more failed since then.
The story of the clash between Keynesianism and ultra-liberalism

But people do not understand, do not want to hear about the topic "economy", too complex ... and meanwhile you leave destroy the Shock Therapy described by Canadian journalist Naomi Klein in his essay "The Shock Doctrine," published in September 2007, where the complaint anti-democratic nature of neoliberalism. The book studies the effects and applications of liberal theories of Milton Friedman and the Chicago School in the different countries of the world, from the sixties until 2007 The thesis is that through unscrupulous practices that involve the use of media and the exploitation of confusion and shock caused by events such as wars, disasters, economic crises driven, large financial institutions put pressure on governments through the instrument of debt (World Bank, WTO, IMF) to approve liberal reforms against the general interests of the populations and in favor of corporations and lobby. The application of these policies (which include privatization, public spending cuts resulting in the dismantling of public services and deregulation of wages) is always carried out without the consent of the people, taking advantage of the state of shock in which the people, and has as its final outcome the growth of unemployment, the general impoverishment of the masses and the progressive concentration of political and economic power of the state in the hands of a small number of individuals.

Alberto Fossadri
Posted on June 17, 2014 from The Gordian knot

Source: http: //azioneprometeo.wordpress.com/2013/05/18/neoliberismo-the-doctrine-of-potenti/