Neoliberalism: Margaret Thatcher And Ronald Reagan

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Two major players in the rise of neoliberalism were Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. Both leaders used neoliberalism as a way to combat the continuous economic struggle in the UK and the UK, as well as most western nations. The main ideas of “Thatcherism” and “Reaganomics” include market liberalism, reduced government spending and services, reduced taxes, supply side economics, the reduction (or destruction) of labor organizing and the power of unions/organized labor, and emphasis on local government. Two important components of neoliberalism were the idea of small or limited government and privatization. Under neoliberalism, there would be reduced spending and budgets for public and social services (including education). Also, the key …show more content…
Under the neoliberal mode of governance there are many factors including the call for the employment of government technologies that are taken from the world of business and commerce; the mandatory development of strategic plans ad risk management schemes oriented toward the creation of surpluses; the use of cost-benefit analyses and other efficiency calculations; the shrinking of political governance; the setting of quantitative targets; close monitoring of outcomes; the creation of highly individualized, performance based work plans; and the introduction of ‘rational choice’ models that internalize and thus normalize market oriented behavior. Another factor of neoliberalism focuses on a policy package, which includes deregulation (the roll back of existing regulations on the economy and also non economic sectors), liberalization (primarily trade and other market forces), and privatization (regarding any and all state-owned/supported