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As a tumultuous 2025 draws to a close, a quiet but seismic shift in the global order has become undeniable: the United States, after a years-long struggle, is losing the technology war with China. This is not the result of a single policy failure or presidential misstep, but the culmination of a half-century divergence in economic philosophy. While the West pursued a neoliberal doctrine that hollowed out its industrial base, China cultivated a potent form of state-directed capitalism designed for long-term strategic competition. The consequences of these divergent paths are now coming to a head, marking a pivotal moment that…
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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…
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Introduction Neoliberalism has been one of the most influential and contentious paradigms in modern history, reshaping economies, politics, and societies around the world since the late 20th century. In broad terms, neoliberalism refers to a revival of 19th-century liberal ideas in a new form – a market-centered vision of society that gained ascendancy in the late 1970s and 1980s. It champions free markets, privatization, and a reduced role for the state in economic affairs, claiming that individual freedom and prosperity are best achieved by unleashing market forces. Critics, however, argue that neoliberalism has come at a steep cost: growing inequality,…
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This is a podcast on the origins of neoliberalism in the 1970s
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This article was originally posted on the Explaining History Patreon in April. Neoliberalism is a term so over used as it is fast approaching redundancy. Marxists like David Harvey see it as a tool for class retrenchment and the erasing of the modest social democratic gains seen during the post war era in much of the wealthy world (Europe, America, South East Asia). Certain models of neoliberalism such as that of Pinochet’s Chile were achieved through the overthrow of democracy and the introduction of a police state based on murder and torture. In Britain and America democratic instiutions endured and…