Editing Neoliberalism (section)

=== Inequality ===
{{See also |List of countries by income equality |Income inequality in the United States}}
[[File:Total US family wealth timeline by wealth group.png|thumb|upright=1.15 |[[Wealth inequality in the United States]] increased from 1989 to 2013.]]
Critics have argued that neoliberal policies have increased [[economic inequality]]{{sfnp|Haymes|Vidal de Haymes|Miller|2015|p=7}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Dean |first=Jodi |date=2012 |title=The Communist Horizon |url=https://archive.org/details/communisthorizon00dean |url-access=limited |publisher=[[Verso Books]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/communisthorizon00dean/page/n128 123] |isbn=978-1844679546 |author-link=Jodi Dean |quote=Pursued through policies of privatization, deregulation, and financialization, and buttressed by an ideology of private property, free markets, and free trade, neoliberalism has entailed cuts in taxes for the rich and cuts in protections and benefits for workers and the poor, resulting in an exponential increase in inequality.}}</ref> and exacerbated global [[poverty]].{{sfnp|Haymes|Vidal de Haymes|Miller|2015|pp=1–2}}<ref>{{harvp|Jones|Parker|Bos|2005|p=101}}; "Critics of neoliberalism have therefore looked at the evidence that documents the results of this great experiment of the past 30 years, in which many markets have been set free. Looking at the evidence, we can see that the total amount of global trade has increased significantly, but that global poverty has increased, with more today living in abject poverty than before neoliberalism."</ref><ref>[[Jason Hickel]] (February 13, 2019). [https://jacobinmag.com/2019/02/steven-pinker-global-poverty-neoliberalism-progress An Open Letter to Steven Pinker (and Bill Gates)]. ''[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]].'' Retrieved February 13, 2019.</ref> The [[Center for Economic and Policy Research |Center for Economic and Policy Research's]] (CEPR) [[Dean Baker]] argued in 2006 that the driving force behind rising inequality in the United States has been a series of deliberate neoliberal policy choices, including anti-[[inflation]]ary bias, anti-[[Trade union|unionism]] and profiteering in the [[healthcare industry]].<ref>Baker, Dean. 2006. "[http://www.paecon.net/PAEReview/issue40/Baker40.pdf Increasing Inequality in the United States]." Post-autistic Economics Review 40.</ref> The economists David Howell and Mamadou Diallo contend that neoliberal policies have contributed to a [[Economy of the United States|United States economy]] in which 30% of [[Working class in the United States|workers]] earn low wages (less than two-thirds the median wage for full-time workers) and 35% of the [[labor force]] is [[underemployment|underemployed]] while only 40% of the working-age population in the country is adequately employed.<ref>Howell, David R. and Mamadou Diallo. 2007. "Charting U.S. Economic Performance with Alternative Labor Market Indicators: The Importance of Accounting for Job Quality." SCEPA Working Paper 2007-6.</ref> The globalization of neoliberalism has been blamed for the emergence of a "[[precariat]]", a new social class facing acute socio-economic insecurity and alienation.<ref name="Fox OMahony OMahony Hickey 2014 p.25">{{cite book |url={{google books|id=qyIcBQAAQBAJ|page=25|plainurl=yes}} |title=Moral rhetoric and the criminalisation of squatting: vulnerable demons? |last1=Fox O'Mahony |first1=Lorna |last2=O'Mahony |first2=David |last3=Hickey |first3=Robin |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2014 |isbn=9781317807940 |location=London |page=25 |oclc=1019606315 |access-date=July 7, 2018}}</ref> In the United States, the "neoliberal transformation" of industrial relations, which considerably diminished the power of [[trade union|unions]] and increased the power of employers, has been blamed by many for increasing [[precarity]], which could be responsible for as many as 120,000 excess deaths per year.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kinderman |first=Daniel |date=2019 |title=The Neoliberal Revolution in Industrial Relations |journal=Catalyst |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=117–118 |issn=2475-7365}}</ref> In [[Venezuela]], prior to the [[Crisis in Venezuela|Venezuelan crisis]], deregulation of the [[labor economics|labor market]] resulted in greater [[informal economy|informal employment]] and a considerable increase in [[work accident|industrial accidents]] and [[occupational disease]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Feo |first=Oscar |url=http://www.medicinasocial.info/index.php/socialmedicine/article/viewFile/272/516 |title=Venezuelan Health Reform, Neoliberal Policies and their Impact on Public Health Education: Observations on the Venezuelan Experience |journal=Social Medicine |volume=3 |number=4 |date=November 2008 |page=224 }}</ref> Even in [[Sweden]], in which only 6% of workers are beset with wages the [[OECD]] considers low,<ref>{{cite web |author=[[OECD]] |date=2007 |url=http://www.oecd.org/employment/emp/38749309.pdf |title=OECD Employment Outlook. Statistical Annex }}</ref> some scholars argue that the adoption of neoliberal reforms—in particular the privatization of public services and the reduction of state benefits—is the reason it has become the nation with the fastest growing income inequality in the OECD.<ref>Olsson, Per (28 May 2013). [http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/6330 The reality of Swedish neo-liberalism]. ''[[Socialist Justice Party|CWI Sweden]].'' Retrieved 26 February 2014.</ref><ref>Higgens, Andrew (26 May 2013). [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/27/world/europe/swedens-riots-put-its-identity-in-question.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 In Sweden, Riots Put an Identity in Question]. ''[[The New York Times]].'' Retrieved 26 February 2014.</ref>

[[File:IMF nations.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Member nations of the [[International Monetary Fund]]]]
A 2016 report by researchers at the [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF) was critical of neoliberal policies for increasing economic inequality.<ref name="Ostry2016"/> While the report included praise for neoliberalism, saying "there is much to cheer in the neoliberal agenda," it noted that certain neoliberal policies, particularly freedom of capital and fiscal consolidation, resulted in "increasing [[economic inequality|inequality]]", which "in turn jeopardized durable [economic] expansion". The report contends that the implementation of neoliberal policies by economic and political [[elite]]s has led to "three disquieting conclusions":
* The benefits in terms of increased [[economic growth|growth]] seem fairly difficult to establish when looking at a broad group of countries.
* The costs in terms of increased inequality are prominent. Such costs epitomize the trade-off between the growth and [[equity (economics)|equity]] effects of some aspects of the neoliberal agenda.
* Increased inequality in turn hurts the level and sustainability of growth. Even if growth is the sole or main purpose of the neoliberal agenda, advocates of that agenda still need to pay attention to the distributional effects.<ref>[http://www.businessinsider.com/imf-neoliberalism-warnings-2016-5 IMF: The last generation of economic policies may have been a complete failure]. ''Business Insider.'' May 2016.</ref>

A number of scholars see increasing inequality arising out of neoliberal policies as a deliberate effort, rather than a consequence of ulterior motives like increasing [[economic growth]]. [[Marxism|Marxist]] economic geographer [[David Harvey (geographer)|David Harvey]] describes neoliberalism as a "[[social class|class]] project" "carried out by the corporate capitalist class", and argued in his book ''A Brief History of Neoliberalism'' that neoliberalism is designed to increase the class power of economic [[elite]]s.<ref name=Harvey-Jacobin>{{cite magazine |last1=Harvey |first1=David |last2=Risager |first2=Bjarke Skærlund |title=Neoliberalism Is a Political Project |url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/07/david-harvey-neoliberalism-capitalism-labor-crisis-resistance/ |access-date=July 6, 2019 |magazine=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |date=July 23, 2016 }}</ref><ref name="DavidHarvey">Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/PkWWMOzNNrQ Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20091029180337/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkWWMOzNNrQ Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkWWMOzNNrQ |title=A Brief History of Neoliberalism 1/5 |last=Harvey |first=David |author-link=David Harvey (geographer) |website=[[YouTube]] |date=17 July 2007 |access-date=July 7, 2018}}{{cbignore}} Also see {{YouTube|playlist=PLA27CFAD836E1638A|title=David Harvey : A Brief History of Neoliberalism}}.</ref>{{sfnp|Harvey|2005|p=}} Economists [[Gérard Duménil]] and Dominique Lévy posit that "the restoration and increase of the power, income, and wealth of the upper classes" are the primary objectives of the neoliberal agenda.<ref name="Duménil Lévy 2016 p. 551">{{cite book |first1=Gérard |last1=Duménil |author-link=Gérard Duménil |first2=Dominique |last2=Lévy |editor-last=Springer |editor-first=Simon |editor-last2=Birch |editor-first2=Kean |editor-last3=MacLeavy |editor-first3=Julie |title=The handbook of neoliberalism |publisher=[[Routledge]], Taylor & Francis Group |location=New York & London |year=2016 |isbn=978-1317549666 |oclc=953604193 |chapter=The crisis of neoliberalism |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZmkDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT645 |pages=551–557 |access-date=July 7, 2018 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Economist David M. Kotz contends that neoliberalism "is based on the thorough domination of [[working class|labor]] by [[Bourgeoisie|capital]]".{{sfnp|Kotz|2015|p=43}} Similarly, [[Elizabeth S. Anderson]] writes that neoliberalism has "shifted economic and political power to private businesses, executives, and the very rich" and that "more and more, these organizations and individuals govern everyone else."{{sfnp|Anderson|2023|p=xi}} Sociologist Thomas Volscho argues that the imposition of neoliberalism in the United States arose from a conscious political mobilization by capitalist [[elite]]s in the 1970s, who faced two self-described crises: the legitimacy of capitalism and a falling rate of [[profit (economics)|profitability]] in industry.<ref name="Volscho pp. 249–266">{{cite journal |last=Volscho |first=Thomas |date=July 28, 2016 |title=The Revenge of the Capitalist Class: Crisis, the Legitimacy of Capitalism and the Restoration of Finance from the 1970s to Present |journal=[[Critical Sociology]] |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=249–266 |doi=10.1177/0896920515589003 |issn=0896-9205 |ssrn=2602893 |s2cid=220077253 |id={{OCLC|7374542920|6962223812}}}} SSRN Pre-publication is free access {{free access}}; SAGE Journals doi publication is closed access {{closed access}}.</ref> In ''The Global Gamble'', [[Peter Gowan]] argued that "neoliberalism" was not only a free-market ideology but "a social engineering project". Globally, it meant opening a state's political economy to products and financial flows from the core countries. Domestically, neoliberalism meant the remaking of social relations "in favour of creditor and rentier interests, with the subordination of the productive sector to financial sectors, and a drive to shift wealth, power and security away from the bulk of the working population."<ref name="Gowan">{{cite book |title=The Global Gamble: Washington's Faustian Bid for World Dominance |last=Gowan |first=Peter |publisher=[[Verso Books]] |year=1999 |isbn=9781859842713}}</ref>

According to [[Jonathan Hopkin]], the United States took the lead in implementing the neoliberal agenda in the 1980s, making it "the most extreme case of the subjection of society to the brute force of the market." As such, he argues this made the United States an outlier with economic inequality hitting "unprecedented levels for the rich democracies," and notes that even with average incomes "very high by global standards," US citizens "face greater material hardship than their counterparts in much poorer countries." These developments, along with financial instability and limited political choice, have resulted in [[Political polarization in the United States|political polarization]], instability and revolt in the United States.<ref name="Hopkin2020">{{cite book |last=Hopkin|first=Jonathan|author-link= |date=2020 |title=Anti-System Politics: The Crisis of Market Liberalism in Rich Democracies|chapter=American Nightmare: How Neoliberalism Broke US Democracy|url=|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IyXTDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA87|location= |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|pages=87–88 |isbn=978-0190699765|doi=10.1093/oso/9780190699765.003.0004
}}</ref>

A 2022 study published in ''[[Perspectives on Psychological Science]]'' found that in countries where neoliberal institutions have significant influence over policy the psychology of those populations are molded not only to be more willing to tolerate large levels of income inequality, but actually prefer it over more egalitarian outcomes.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2022/may/neoliberal-policies--institutions-have-prompted-preference-for-g.html|title=Neoliberal Policies, Institutions Have Prompted Preference for Greater Inequality, New Study Finds|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=May 11, 2022|website=nyu.edu |publisher= |access-date=June 19, 2023 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Goudarzi|first1=Shahrzad |last2=Badaan|first2=Vivienne |last3=Knowles|first3=Eric D. |date=May 10, 2022|title=Neoliberalism and the Ideological Construction of Equity Beliefs|url= https://psyarxiv.com/pc8zy/|journal=Perspectives on Psychological Science|volume=17 |issue=5 |pages= 1431–1451|doi=10.1177/17456916211053311|pmid=35536556 |s2cid=237727224 |access-date=}}</ref>