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MITCHELL A. ORENSTEIN Follow @m_orenstein
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Mitchell A. Orenstein is Professor and Chair of the Political Science Department at Northeastern
University, and an associate of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies and the Davis Center
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for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University.
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From Neoliberalism to No
Liberalism?
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7/31/2017 From Neoliberalism to No Liberalism? by Mitchell A. Orenstein - Project Syndicate
Aer some successes, most notably in Chile, neoliberal advice in Latin America also
failed, most dramatically in the case of Argentinas currency board, but most damagingly
by increasing inequality, which worsened the continents central political-economic
problem. In Brazil, President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva showed that signicant departures
from free-market prescriptions worked better. Worldwide, most of the high-growth
countries of the 1990s and 2000s broke with free-market orthodoxy by maintaining a
stronger state hand in the economy.
Belief in neoliberalism also was based on the success of the US economy, which for
much of the 1990s seemed to demonstrate the superiority of free markets. But the rapid
decline of US prestige and so power during the 2000s sowed doubt outside the US. As
the global agenda shied to concerns about global warming, inequality, and the stability
of the international system, the US no longer seemed to be a shining example, but rather
an immovable obstacle on many of these issues.
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7/31/2017 From Neoliberalism to No Liberalism? by Mitchell A. Orenstein - Project Syndicate
Americas elites turned a blind eye to these developments, rejecting all criticism, together
with the crude anti-Americanism with which it was oen expressed. Today, the story is
dierent. A massive reassessment is nally in progress, with US elites now recognizing
that market capitalism is in crisis, and that the world will not blindly follow their lead.
But that leaves some large questions unresolved. If neoliberalism has failed, what comes
next? And what must the US do to regain its stature and inuence in the international
economy?
As New York and London lose their undisputed claim to being the worlds nancial
capitals, the rising centers of the global economy will gain an increasing say in
international economic policy. Most, if not all, are located in countries that have a
stronger tradition of state involvement in the economy. Jerey Garten, the dean of Yales
School of Management, got it right when he labeled this the era of state capitalism. The
state is on its way back as an economic player not least in the US.
But is that a good thing? While many critics will be tempted to celebrate the end of
neoliberalism, it remains to be seen whether or not what succeeds it represents an
improvement. Various forms of statism have been tried before; all have been found
lacking. Aer all, while neoliberalism was criticized as technocratic and elitist, it was
nonetheless a form of liberalism, and it was also consistent with the spread of democratic
governance worldwide.
In order to redeem the liberal project, American and European leaders will need to
reformulate it in such a way that it can provide convincing solutions to problems such as
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environmental degradation and economic inequality. This will be no easy task, and one
that may be far from policymakers minds as they grapple with the current crisis. But,
unless they do, the emphasis on economic and political freedom that lies at the heart of
liberalism may not survive.
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