"F. A. Hayek and Milton Friedman were the most notable 20th-century defenders of unrestrained capitalism. The idea of "unfettered markets""markets without rules and regulations"is an oxymoron because without rules and regulations enforced by government, there could and would be little trade.
Cheating would be rampant, trust low. A world without restraints would be a jungle in which only power mattered, determining who got what and who did what. It wouldn't be a market at all."
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"My own conclusions have been radically different. It was because of democratic demands that democratic governments, such as that of the U.S., responded to the Great Depression through collective action.
The failure of governments to respond adequately to soaring unemployment in Germany led to the rise of Hitler.
Today, it is neoliberalism that has brought massive inequalities and provided fertile ground for dangerous populists.
Neoliberalism's grim record includes freeing financial markets to precipitate the largest financial crisis in three-quarters of a century, freeing international trade to accelerate deindustrialization, and freeing corporations to exploit consumers, workers, and the environment alike.
Contrary to what Friedman suggested in his 1962 book, Capitalism and Freedom, this form of capitalism does not enhance freedom in our society.
Instead, it has led to the freedom of a few at the expense of the many. As Isaiah Berlin would have it: Freedom for the wolves; death for the sheep."
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"The consequences of neoliberalism point to part of the reason: specifically, growing income and wealth disparities and the polarization caused by the media.
In theory, economic freedom was supposed to be the bedrock basis for political freedom and democratic health. The opposite has proved to be true.
The rich and the elites have a disproportionate voice in shaping both government policies and societal narratives. All of which leads to an enhanced sense by those who are not wealthy that the system is rigged and unfair, which makes healing divisions all the more difficult."
Excerpts... there's a lot more at the thread link, which I would encourage you to read, as just posting what you always post on the subject is, well, inadequate, and worse, increasingly boring