Neoliberals are killing us: The TED talk, techno-utopian, Thomas Friedman-economy is a lie

[marmar]

from Salon.com:



Neoliberals are killing us: The TED talk, techno-utopian, Thomas Friedman-economy is a lie
Neoliberal fantasy world is filled with daring entrepreneurs competing in a meritocracy. Do you recognize that?

BILL CURRY


Last week, 295,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits. Economists called it good news, as the number was less than 300,000; that’s the line they say separates good news from bad. But it isn’t much less, and other news seems very bad. In February, housing starts plunged 17 percent. Inventories are high. Demand is low. Job growth is anemic. Still, economists say things are going so well we can raise interest rates. They call that good news — though they don’t say for whom.

There’ll be more news this week: home prices, consumer confidence, new growth figures. In our casino economy we hang on these reports like blackjack players waiting for a dealer to turn the next card. Republicans and Democrats alike believe growth will cure all our ills. President Obama and Hillary Clinton call it their No. 1 economic priority. Despite all evidence to the contrary, they still believe a rising tide lifts all boats.

Some call Obama’s and Clinton’s economic worldview ‘neoliberal.’ Like ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative,’ it’s an imprecise word meant to signify a cluster of opinions; among them that globalization is inevitable and benign and that the revolution in information technology is fast democratizing commerce and politics. Neoliberals love fiscal austerity and free trade and are suckers for privatization, deregulation and ‘education reform,’ which they say will keep us competitive.

Like the neoconservatives with whom they often ally on military matters, neoliberals seem to regard our present political and economic arrangements as civilization’s final flowering, as close to perfect as one can get in a fallen world. It’s the faith that made Bush think Iraqis would greet us as liberators–who wouldn’t want to be us– and why Obama bet his presidency on economic recovery rather than reform. It’s our establishment orthodoxy, the ‘bipartisan consensus’ we’re forever chasing. It’s killing us. .................(more)

http://www.salon.com/2015/04/29/neoliberals_are_killing_us_the_ted_talk_techno_utopian_thomas_friedman_economy_is_a_lie/

[HassleCat]

1. Me Neanderthal!

I guess I'm an evolutionary throwback, but I don't like it when we enthusiastically participate in globalization. Our part in the deal seems to be the bottomless market for stuff produced in other countries. We supply the consumers, and they supply the goods. Our corporations move offshore and export jobs. We bust unions and drop trade barriers. In exchange, we get cheap stuff. Even though we unilaterally wipe out our own "protectionist" import policies, we don't insist other countries open up their markets to our products. Sure, we pretend to object when they put a huge tariff on US goods, but we quickly forget about it and get all happy about the "free market" blah, blah, blah.