The Political Thought of Neo-Liberalism

Neoliberalism as concept

“…Ordoliberalism, for example, was not an unrestrained laissez--faire doctrine but represented 'a distinctive synthesis, located between the polar opposites of unfettered capitalism and state control' (Peck 2008:22). It saw the necessity for capitalism to be regulated in its own best interests (Friedrich 1955), and for its most negative consequences to be mitigated with some dose of social welfare. These moments of dissonance and disconnect between old and new lives of neoliberal deployment are substantial enough to call into question the attempts to stitch them together into a seamless historical project.…”

Freedom and the Strong State: On German Ordoliberalism

“…However, with the exception of Friedrich's (1955) most uncritical account, one is hard pressed to find a systematically argued, critical exposition of ordoliberal thought. 5 There are various fragments of critical writings about the theme of the strong state over a number of decades (Gamble 1979;Cristi 1998;Jackson 2010), and there are a number of analytical positions within these writings, Freedom and the Strong State: On German Ordoliberalism ranging from Cristi's political philosophy of authoritarian liberalism, to Jackson's historical account of the origins of the strong state and to Gamble's conception of neoliberalism as a political project of the New Right.…”

The geographical and ethical origins of neoliberalism: The Walter Lippmann Colloquium and the foundations of a new geopolitical order

“…In Western Europe, some countries even implemented policies with which the first neoliberals expressed some satisfaction. From the 1950s onwards, they regularly presented Ludwig Erhard in West Germany and Luigi Einaudi in Italy as pioneers of neoliberal renewal (Friedrich, 1955;Gignoux, 1952;Oliver, 1960;Rueff, 1953). While they condemned British Labour policy or Swedish social democracy, West Germany appeared to them as a kind of model of successful neoliberalisation.…”

“…More importantly, this omission might suggest that neoliberalism mostly promotes a vision of freedom restricted to economic performance whereas the early neoliberals primarily considered the spatial organisation of the economy as a means to achieve worldwide political goals such as peace between nations. This truncated perspective also overlooks the fact that the transatlantic implementation of the neoliberal framework, based on the integration of national economies into a system of cross-border competition, began as early as the end of World War II and was partly compatible with national welfare policies, as shown in the "social market economy" initiated by "German neoliberals" in the Federal Republic of Germany from the 1950s onwards (Friedrich, 1955;Oliver, 1960).…”