Neo liberalism is a political ideology which advocates economic liberalization and decreasing the role of the public sector in modern society. Its supporters also argue for free trade and deregulation of the economy. The three most significant developments in the neo liberalist era were; internationalization of trade and finance, increasing power of the transnational corporation and enhanced role of economic institutions like the IMF, WB and the WTO. It has characteristics such as privatization of public enterprises, tax cuts and expansion of the international market. Neo liberalists want minimal state intervention where the focus is on a free market. Equality for them, is restricted to civil and political equality. They are advocates of negative liberty and meritocracy. They differ from Libertarianism in the sense that libertarianism argues for individual freedom of speech and action in a very general way. They want to maximize individual liberty by minimizing the government’s role. Neo liberalists however, concentrate more specifically on economic issues.
Libertarians have a simple stance; one can make decisions for him or herself regarding any issue as long as they do not infringe upon someone else’s right to do the same. One of the key therorists for this ideology, Friedrich Hayek (1899-1992) disagreed with Keynes and stated that, “The only chance to build a decent world is to improve the general level of wealth via the activities of free markets”. For him, more power should be given to the private sector so that more wealth can be generated in the economy with minimal market impurities. Hayek, talked about three main issues. He was against taxation for redistribution. He wanted to end the attention given to specific groups and wanted freedom to pursue goals. His argument was that capitalism and democracy conflict with one another. For him, democracy meant that the government would be more worried about getting votes and protecting special interest groups. His view was that “all coercive action of government must be limited to the enforcement of general rules of just conduct”.
The Essay on Role of government in correcting market failure
Market failure is very common in many markets in the world, it occurs when a well -established market fails to allocate resources properly. There are many types of market failures that exist but failure of the market on resources will be the main focus of the paper. It is the desire of any government to have a resourceful market because market is one of the major pillars of the economy. ...
Another theorist, Mancur Olson (1932-1998) advocates a small but strong government which opposes influence from special group interests. He wanted to examine why people join groups to begin with. His key argument was that “only a separate and ‘selective’ incentive will stimulate a rational individual in a latent group to act in a group-oriented way”. Robert Nozick (1938-2002) states that individuals own themselves and their labour power and so any kind of ownership of another is not legitimate. He further states that the state cannot redistribute money as it is a form of forced labour that takes money from your labour power and gives it to the state.
This concept does not go in line with Nozick’s notion of self-ownership. He says that to deal with the problems in the state of nature protective associations are formed and we move from these protective associations to the ultra-minimal state and then to a minimal state. Neo liberalists thus challenge the power of the state and help us see the problems with the large bureaucratic state. They focus on individual liberty and talk about the economic perspective of things. However, this emphasis on economic issues often leads to ignorance of environmental, social and political issues. Capitalism, also doesn’t guarantee rights and freedoms to individuals. Practically speaking, in developing countries, there isn’t minimal state intervention either. The theory also assumes that there is meritocracy present.
The Essay on In order to protect the liberty of individuals, the role of the state should be minimal
“In order to protect the liberty of individuals, the role of the state should be minimal” Discuss this view. The view that the state should be minimal is primarily that of a libertarian and minarchist point of view, where the individual should be, to the largest extent possible, be free from state interference and that state power should extend only to the point of preserving its citizens ...
