What Was Neoliberalism—And Is It Dying?

ABSTRACT

Andy Burnham has promised nothing short of the end of “forty years of neoliberalism”. That begs the question: what is neoliberalism, really? A set of ideas, a policy paradigm, or something else? As profound economic and geopolitical changes have forced governments to revisit hoary assumptions – about the price mechanism, inequality, and the role of the state – could it already be said to be dead? And is it possible that the concept hinders, more than helps, our understanding of political‐economic change and the possibilities open to political leaders?