The demise of neoliberalism?

The recent onset of the most severe, synchronised global economic slump since the 1930s depression has rekindled controversies over the contradictory “laws of motion” of capitalism and the very nature of capitalist money in the wake of the global financial meltdown, which preceded the slump. The evidence suggests that these recurrent crises have become more frequent, severe and prolonged during the neoliberal era from the mid-1970s onward and appear to have coincided with the policies of financial deregulation enacted during this period. Many heterodox critics have argued that the phenomenon of “financialisation” lies at the very core of these recurrent financial crises. The aim of this very brief analysis is to examine the dynamics of the current debilitating phase of financial instability from a historical standpoint. What are the implications of “financialisation”? Does the present conjuncture signify the final historical vestiges of the neoliberal project?