-
Defining Neoliberalism as a Political-Economic Ideology Neoliberalism is a political-economic ideology that centers on the conviction that free markets, private enterprise, and competition are the primary drivers of human well-being and prosperity . In broad terms, neoliberals argue that society functions best when businesses and individuals operate with minimal government interference, within a framework of strong private property rights, free markets, and free trade . The state, according to this view, should focus chiefly on creating and maintaining the conditions for markets – for example, by enforcing contracts, safeguarding property rights, controlling the money supply, and even actively creating markets…
-
In the late 1960s the British secret state, bankers, right wing newspaper and TV proprietors and other elite figures sought to remove Prime Minister Harold Wilson from power. They were indifferent to the fact that he had won two general elections in a row and thought that a government that included unelected business figures would save the nation from the economic crisis they predicted. *****STOP PRESS*****I only ever talk about history on this podcast but I also have another life, yes, that of
-
From the late 1970s onwards China and the USSR were on two very different historical paths and three US presidents, Carter, Reagan and Bush sought to harness the potential of the world’s most populous country as it rapidly became wealthier. China, often cited as having embraced capitalism after Mao, abandoned inward looking autarchy and opened its economy up in the 1980s to foreign trade and investment. In the 1990s and 2000s there would be an explosion of offshoring that has partially created t
-
Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao are often overlooked but pivotal figures in recent Chinese history whose role in steering China through its extraordinary economic transformation in the 1990s and 2000s is overshadowed by Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. This is the first in a series of podcasts about these two figures and how they created the China now ruled by Xi Jinping.*****STOP PRESS*****I only ever talk about history on this podcast but I also have another life, yes, that of aspirant fantasy author a
-
In a hundred years time will China offshore its manufacturing to poorer countries? Not if it has any sense. Today Trump’s great retreat from the tariff war began in earnest as some cold economic realities have begun to bite, but what is the historical long view here? This episode explores how offshoring and America’s weakening dollar supremacy, combined with the ownership of nearly $2 trillion of debt by China and Japan place America in an economic position it has never experienced in its nearly
-
America’s de-industrialisation, offshoring, its battle to maintain dollar supremacy whilst also restoring itself to being a net exporter have led to historic crises from which there appear to be no exit. President Trump’s recent and clearly failing tariffs against China and the rest of the world are merely an indication of America’s relative economic decline. This podcast explores the factors that have powered rising Chinese living standards, economic and diplomatic power and the factors that ha
-
How did China embrace its own hybrid form of market capitalism with state control after the death of Mao in 1976? How did China avoid the economic shock therapy that devastated the USSR and become a technological super power in the 21st Century? Today’s podcast explores the writings of David Harvey on Chinese capitalism and communism.Help the podcast to continue bringing you history each weekIf you enjoy the Explaining History podcast and its many years of content and would like to help the show
-
Since the beginning of the 21st Century, American internationalism has been in crisis and Trump’s recent verbal and economic threats towards allies has accelerated this trend. This podcast explores America’s 20th and 21st Century internationalist moments and crises.Help the podcast to continue bringing you history each weekIf you enjoy the Explaining History podcast and its many years of content and would like to help the show continue, please consider supporting it in the following ways:If you
-
When Europe was rapidly subjugated by the Nazi regime, unprecedented economic opportunities arose and these were exploited by Germany’s great industrial conglomerates and cartels such as chemicals giant IG Farben. This podcast explores how the Nazi regime imposed a new economic order on conquered states in western Europe.Help the podcast to continue bringing you history each weekIf you enjoy the Explaining History podcast and its many years of content and would like to help the show continue, pl
-
What is globalisation? In its current incarnation, it is the now collapsing system of quasi free markets established by the US and its allies after the Second World War that ensured a degree of stability in trade for wealthy countries and the plunder of poorer ones emerging from control by European empires. This podcast explores the functioning of this high point of globalisation and the crises within it. Help the podcast to continue bringing you history each weekIf you enjoy the Explaining Hist