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Neoliberalism in Canada 35 years later
February 10, 2010 - 2:35pm
Neoliberalism in Canada: What is it? How's it goin' eh? Discuss
Is Neoliberalism real, or is it an illusion?
Clearly it is real if you look for particular characteristics of the ideal among political actors, but don't expect them to exist in a bubble, or to be in pure forms.
Also, when the rubber hits the road, neoliberalism looks nothing like it *should*.
The Neo-Liberal Dogma & Canada By Laila Abu-Jaza
Our two old line parties have strangled social spending across Canada when in federal government and given more to the rich and corporations. It began with Trudeau's waging war on average Canadians with wage and price controls, and vast inequalities have grown rapidly in Canada compared to other rich countries over the last 30 to 35 years.
Trudea was not a neo-liberal advocate. He asked Galbraith what to do and got the advice of wage and price controls. I'm Afraid Galbraith was only able to "tut-tut" in his later years, and watch the Chicago Boys (Naomi) take over.
But neither was Trudeau an economist, and the advance of the Chicago School into practical politics came with Lyin'Brian and the free trade agreement. That's neo-liberal, anti-sovereignist. And of course as corporations told workers it's "our way or the highway,", both sides of the border, there was suddenly to way to gain a better living standard...and the creation of a credit society wrapped it up.
You are correct George, and Galbraith's ideas are an offtshoot of the arch neoliberal whipping boy, Keynes.
Though, as Fidel intimates, neoliberalism is "not what is supposed to be" especially according to its supposed holy shrine of the anti-government "free market". That is a simplistic lie for the simple who salute and sniffle at the mention of the word "free".
Although, his focus is the UK, John Gray has a review of "The Neoliberal State" by Raymond Plant which exposes the the deception which is pretty much universal with neoliberals:
http://www.newstatesman.com/non-fiction/2010/01/neoliberal-state-market-...
Well I agree that wage and price controls are not neoliberal. But it was the first of the attacks on labour in Canada as there were more wages controlled than controlling of prices at the time. And their lame efforts would be held up as proof that Keynesianism wasn't working. US predidents Johnson and even Nixon to some extent were convinced by the political right that lavish social spending was causing inflation of the 1970's. Nixon refused to implement Friedman's ideas, and it was because he didn't believe that neoliberal agenda was compatible with his own re-election chances. In other words, as Palast and Klein wrote about it, it was the first evidence that neoliberalism and democracy are incompatible.
Neoliberal monetarism at the Bank of Canada began during Trudeau's rein, I believe. And since then, Canada's national indebtedness to private sources has skyrocketed. By 1984, Trudeau was mostly on-side with neoconservatives and neoliberals.
A Brief History of Neoliberalism by David Harvey
David Harvey interviewed on Neoliberalism
My own view is that neoliberalism was really politically introduced into Canada following the 1983 election and the set of neo-liberal atrocites, drafted by the Fraser Institute, that the Bennett Socred regime introduced. It was a test case, as it were, to attack working people in Canada by attacking the very strong and militant BC labour movement. The reaction to those atrocities was the Solidarity Coaltion and Operation Solidarity. These replies were betrayed by the leadership, primarily people like Jack Munroe of the IWA, et al., and the rest, as they say, is history.
David Harvey is perhaps the most accessible academic that writes on neoliberalism and he has (I think) the strongest grasp on the concept, too.
Connie Fogal wrote:
And so the sovereignty of Canada was handed to marauding international capital by an appointed central banker by the name of Gerald Buoey by 1975.
Michael Hudson wrote:
The Chicago School was new to the University of Toronto in the winter of 74-75. Thanks for the Bouey reminder, Fidel. It seemed to some of us that there could be no fighting it, finally, if capital could demand obedience from political jurisdictions and labour. The fact that the workers were increasingly beholden to those same corporations for their retirement incomes became apparent later. And all became dependent on the market.
Glad you appreciate it, George. I'm learning some new things about our recent past with skimming through comer.org and David Harvey's comments. Interesting. And American Michael Hudson writes some very interesting things as well. He says he quit teaching economics for a spell when Chicago School doctrine displaced rational thought in US universities teaching economics. Canadian William Krehm describes that same period as when the Stalinization of economic theory began in North America. Rabble's Duncan Cameron knows all of this stuff inside out.