Neoliberalism

Neoliberalism is a political project that entails a set of particular economic and political ideologies. This theory is called neoliberalism because it is based, in part, on 18th-century liberal economic theory. Economics generally is concerned with how human needs and desires are satisfied when resources are not sufficient to meet everyone's needs. Based primarily on theoretical economic models, neoliberalism is a theory of how to structure economies through free markets. Traditionally, a market was the physical space, frequently a city square, where people gathered to trade goods. Markets work by bringing people who want to buy together with people who have something to sell. They can be literal, such as a corner store, or virtual, such as online shopping. The term can also be used to describe the daily processes of buying and selling in general without reference to any particular marketplace or commodity.

The basic tenet of both liberal and neoliberal economic theory is the strong belief in, and preference for, free markets that are allowed to self-regulate without outside interventions. Neoliberal ideology holds that the market should dictate the rules of society and not vice versa. From this premise, it follows that for markets to function properly, all state and collective interventions in the market must be removed. For example, state-instituted measures to lessen unemployment would be considered to be detrimental to the market because they would impede on the market's ability to self-regulate, with the idea being that unemployment may actually be in the best interest of the market. Neoliberalism currently is a very important and influential economic theory, one that shapes the daily lives of countless people across the globe.