Abstract
![CDATA[As a political and economic theory, neoliberalism traces its intellectual origins from classical liberalism – Adam Smith’s ideas about the benefits to humans of a free market under a laissez-faire ‘night-watchman state’; David Ricardo’s notions of state specialization in manufacturing and productivity for optimal trading benefit (the Theory of Comparative Advantage); and Immanuel Kant’s zone of ‘perpetual peace’ in which states that trade avoid costly wars. A modern variant of these ideas (neoliberalism) developed through the work of European and North American scholars who saw excessive government intervention in and control over economies as a detriment to human freedom (Berger 2004: 150). Friedrich Hayek’s 1944 Road to Serfdom warned against government central planning leading to tyranny and a loss of freedom, and the Mount Perelin Society and other think tanks promoted these ideas internationally (Monbiot 2016). From the 1960s the influential ‘Chicago School of Economics’ plotted what was then a radical departure from Keynesian economic policies of state intervention, and towards a significantly reduced role for the state in the economy, claiming free markets would also enhance creativity, productivity and maximize choice.]]
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Elgar Encyclopedia of Development |
Editors | Matthew Clarke, Xinyu (Andy) Zhao |
Place of Publication | U.K. |
Publisher | Edward Elgar Publishing |
Pages | 438-443 |
Number of pages | 6 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781800372122 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781800372115 |
Publication status | Published - 2023 |