The Decline and Fall of Neoliberal Hegemony

“Another problem of Friedman’s analysis is the way that he, like many neoliberals, condemns government intervention, yet is nevertheless willing to take credit for all of the positive gains it has accrued.”

Introduction

In his scathing Sturm und Drang takedown of the 1851 French dictatorial coup, The 18th Brumaire of Louis Napoleon, Marx remarks that history repeats twice: “the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.” Thus, when Luther pit himself against the Catholic establishment, he put on, according to Marx, “the mask of the Apostle Paul.” Likewise, the French Revolution of 1789-1814 “draped itself alternately in the guise of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire.” And to Marx’s chagrin, the latter guise, in particular, enjoyed a revival under Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, who drew on it relentlessly to rationalize his retconning of the Napoleonic legacy.

Marx, in his essay, focuses understandably on the evocations of the past that had acquired political significance in France. France continues, even to this day, to be partially gripped by nostalgia for the revolutionary heroism requisite to the establishment of an ostensibly neo-Roman Republic. In the years from 1979-2007, the Anglo-American world, skewing toward unfettered free markets, came to embrace its own brand of historical nostalgia: that of the English Enlightenment. Against the evils of the growing welfare state, what became known as neoliberal governance was initially invoked as a return to a laissez-faire order dominant throughout the 19th century.

To this day, apologists like Samuel Gregg argue that the night watchmen state of the 19th century Anglo-American world left markets alone to bring about an unmatched order of global prosperity and development. This ideal order was challenged by redistributive efforts through the mid 20th century and only began to gain traction again in the 1970’s and 80’s, when intellectuals like Friedrich Hayek and politicians like Margaret Thatcher surged to popularity and power. By the 1990’s, with the establishment of international legal regimes via institutions such as the WTO, neoliberalism seemed unstoppable. Indeed, figures like Francis Fukuyama famously declared the “end of history,” arguing that neoliberalism’s triumph was so complete there could be no genuine competing ideologies.