The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order

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This account details how neoliberalism shaped American politics for nearly fifty years before facing challenges from Trumpism on the right and a new progressivism on the left. The shift toward neoliberalism began in the late 1970s in the U.S. and Great Britain, promoting policies that reduced government influence and shifted economic power to private markets. Today, "neoliberal" often denotes a range of policies criticized for prioritizing market principles over social welfare and pushing privatization in developing nations. While neoliberalism has been linked to rising income inequality, historian Gary Gerstle argues that such critiques overlook its broader implications and the reasons for its appeal across the political spectrum for three decades. He illustrates how the neoliberal order combined deregulation with personal freedoms, open borders with cosmopolitanism, and globalization with promises of prosperity. Gerstle also examines how the collapse of the Soviet Union facilitated neoliberalism's rise and charts its decline, beginning with the failed reconstruction of Iraq and the Great Recession, leading to the emergence of Trump and a revitalized left under Bernie Sanders in the 2010s. This analysis offers a comprehensive reinterpretation of the past fifty years, exploring the deep entrenchment of neoliberal ideology in American life and its implications for the future.