A Brief History Of Neoliberalism

In Chapter 4, Harvey analyzes the development of neoliberal states around the world. He assesses the varying degrees to which neoliberal policies have been adopted, the reasons for their adoption, and the effects they have had. He describes in particular the cases of Mexico, Argentina, South Korea, and Sweden.

In the first section, “The Moving Map of Neoliberalization,” Harvey describes how the implementation of neoliberal policies around the world since 1970 is highly variegated. Some countries only adopt some neoliberal policies. Others have implemented neoliberal policies and then reversed them after crises. Geographic competition between states and regions creates pressure to implement neoliberal policies. However, the drive has been primarily driven by the United States and the United Kingdom, even as they did not entirely implement neoliberal policies themselves.

Harvey then describes the global economy in the 1980s and argues that neoliberalism did not achieve what it said it would, based on its theory. In the United States and the United Kingdom, inflation decreased but there was high unemployment and growing income inequality. In Latin America, neoliberalism led to a decade of weak economies and political instability. Japan, other East Asian countries, and West Germany did well in the 1980s despite not implementing neoliberal policies to the same extent as the United States, United Kingdom, and Latin America.