Effect of Neoliberalism or the Shift to a Neoliberal Philosophy on Cities

Neoliberalism refers to a political movement that espouses economic liberalism as a means of promoting economic development and securing political liberty.

The implementation of gentrification as an economic strategy exhibits a break from the liberal urban policy present in the United States up until the 1970s, as well as a restructuring of the relationship between capital and the state. This departure from liberal urban policy occurred due to the development of a new neo-liberal urbanism¬– an urban form where the state becomes a partnered agent of the capitalist market rather than a regulator. This transformation was made possible through the disempowerment of original liberal urban policy. Public policy constraints on gentrification were replaced by a subsidized private-market shift of the urban built environment. As a result, neo-liberal urbanism has fueled gentrification through a systematic partnership of public planning with private capital.

Globalization is a term that is often used without realizing the full effect that it can have on the economy, both globally and locally. With globalization often come neoliberal policies, which Lipman says has two parts. Generally, neoliberalism is thought of as laissez-faire policies and the decreasing of the size of the public sector and increasing the size of the private sector. Lipman splits this into two parts – roll back and roll out neoliberalism. Roll back neoliberalism involves the destruction of Keynesian artifacts, policies, agreements, and institutions and roll out neoliberalism creates new practices and institutions or reconstructs existing ones (Lipman 2009). In Chicago, they are implementing both ends of Lipman’s neoliberal ideas. The size of Chicago 's middle class is decreasing at a very quick rate is because “globalization makes American technology, finance, and resources more valuable, and individuals producing and managing those enjoy soaring incomes. But free trade pits ordinary American office and factory workers against legions of capable Chinese and others, and destroys jobs without creating enough new opportunities in exporting activities” (Morici 2012). Additionally, they are attempting to implement neoliberal ideals in schooling through initiatives such as Renaissance 2010, an effort to close public schools and open private charter

This was done in hopes to create a trickle-down system where capital gain will accumulate in the top and will eventually move down the economic system. However, the unregulated market provides economic growth but does not guarantee equal distribution of goods. Neoliberalism’s economic system works by essentially empowering the top and disempowering the bottom through its ineffective trickle-down system. This is why deregulation and privatization were emphasized in this neoliberal method as it allowed for the top to solely accumulate

One of the learning objectives as outlined by the course syllabus is to understand the role that ideology, values, and a worldview play in determining social policy. It is evident that these factors mixed together with my background influence my perspective and lens through which the world is understood. Therefore, this section of the paper will briefly summarize how my ideology, values and worldview distinctly conflict with the fundamental frames of neoliberalism, which emphasizes decentralization, individualism and cost/benefit results.

David McNally, Daniel Stedman-Jones, and Vijay Prashad all present different but overlapping interpretations of the origins of neoliberalism. While McNally focused on an overall view of an economic slump during the quarter-century wave, Stedman-Jones and Prashad focused on historically important events such as the New Deal and groups such as the NIEO and the G7. Primarily, all three authors portrayed economic decline as the largest indicator of neoliberalism but differed which historical event had the largest impact.

To recapitulate, this paper attempts to analyze the neoliberalist economic policies since 1989-2008 in the US. One thing interesting is that regardless of the Presidents’ political affiliation, neoliberalism has been playing a weighty role in the making of American economic policy because it has brought about some benefits to the US economic advancement. Still, however popular the ideology is, problems, such as economic recession and inequality, derive from these policies have also been more ubiquitous. Therefore, the US government may need to contemplate if closely abide by neoliberalism would be beneficial to the country in the long term. Perhaps, only the history can tell the truth.

and a range of cultural practices. As neoliberalism depends on consent it cast its net wide

Neoliberalism, an approach in the economic system has brought up many debates on whether it is beneficial to the global economy or if it hinderous, or a combination of both. The question is then brought up, what constitutes neoliberalism? Ha-Joon Chang, a Korean heterodox economist, defines the main principle of neoliberalism as the government’s restriction of intervening with the market (Chang). Neoliberalism advocates for free trade, privatization of publicly owned enterprises, the act of balancing budgets as well as maintaining low budgets, and deregulation. Neoliberalists also argue that the benefits of this approach directly correlate with how free the system is. In other words, “the freer the system, the better off the ordinary poor people have been.” (Friedman) Additionally, Jagdish Bhagwati, a major proponent of neoliberalism, claims that women are doing better in neoliberalism economies. Scholars also argue that neoliberalism promotes economic growth and it trickles down to the lower classes of the economic hierarchy.

Specific political projects embodying different schools of thought have fueled three waves of neoliberalism, with both economic and ethical implications (Ong, 2006). In a first moment, Hayek and his Homo economicus as the basis of a free political order and Friedman and Becker have philosophically supported what Thatcher (Thatcherism) and Reagan (Reagonimics) implemented in the United Kingdom and in the United States in the late 1970s and the 1980s. The Clinton (US) and the Blair (UK) administrations in the 1990s represent promote the individual internalization of self-governamentality or self-responsibility. In this second wave of neoliberalism, the broad social, political, economic, and cultural principles underneath neoliberalism became common sense and were naturalized as an individual action. Finally, entrepreneurialism or the communitarian ideal of responsibility is a third wave of neoliberalism. Therefore, neoliberal policies of “shrinking” the state “are accompanied by a proliferation of techniques to remake the subjects”; so, “neoliberal logic requires free, self-managing, and self-enterprising individuals in different spheres of everyday life” (Ong, 2006: 14).

This has meant more market-driven and capital-driven economies throughout the world, under the banner of neoliberalism . According to economic imperialism however, neoliberalism is “driven by the logic of profit for the private accumulation of capital based on the exploitation of labor throughout the world ”. It has in effect resulted in a world-wide system of production and labor exploitation, causing extreme inequality throughout the world as well as dependency relations between the different parts of the

Neoliberalism is the fundamental driving force of economic globalisation. It promotes a laissez-faire economy characterized by free trade, free circulation of capital and investment. It is in favour of the privatisation of public enterprises and the liberalisation of industries. The main political actors are Transnational Actors, Transnational Corporations, International non-Government Organisations and International Organisations such as the IMF and the World Bank. National governments provide infrastructure to promote economic growth, but they do not interfere in the economy. Free markets and a strong deregulation are believed to be the most efficient and socially optimal allocation of resources. Transnational Corporations take comparative advantages for differences across countries in terms of land, labour and capital. Neoliberalism is also reflected in an international division of labour.

Neoliberalism is a political and economic theory that highlights the ways in which practices such as free market activity, free trade, and the protection of private property rights promote human prosperity and the overall success of society. The ideology prioritizes expanding competition through deregulation, as well as reducing the role of the state through privatization. Neoliberalism is a product of globalization, the spread of free market capitalism, and the spread of liberal democracy. While this theory claims to encourage equality, there is evidence that neoliberalism in fact augments class inequality.

“A set of economic policies that have become widespread during the last 25 years or so. You can clearly see the effects of neo-liberalism here as the rich grow richer and the poor grow poorer. Around the world, neo-liberalism has been imposed by powerful financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Inter American Development Bank. The capitalist crisis over the last 25 years, with its shrinking profit rates, inspired the corporate elite to revive economic liberalism. That’s what makes it ‘neo’ or new.”

The essay is available in the book Neoliberalism: A Brief History, should any reader require further research.