Neoliberalism Chapter Summary

Written by Manfred Steger and Ravi Roy, Neoliberalism: A Very Short Introduction is a short book that talks about neoliberalism and the politics and economics that it has led to. In “What’s ‘neo’ about liberalism?”, the first chapter of the book, Steger and Roy talk about how neoliberalism and neoliberals came to be. According to them, people that had a neoliberal view “subscribed to a common set of ideological and political principles dedicated to the worldwide spread of an economic model emphasizing free markets and free trade” (10). In other words, neoliberals are people that believe that freedom, having a free enterprise and free competition, is crucial for a nation’s economy to thrive. Steger and Roy also go on to talk about how neoliberalism are three things—an ideology, a mode of governance, a policy package—that all tie in together.

That is to say, by having such an ideology, neoliberals believe that neoliberalism will lead to a much better economy and government. When it comes to being a mode of governance, the second manifestation, neoliberalism prefers a government that is “rooted in entrepreneurial values such as competitiveness, self-interest, and decentralization” (12). This is pretty much more self-explanatory compared to the other two manifestations; being competitive and self-interested somehow results in a better economy for everyone. When it comes to being a policy package, neoliberalism “manifests itself as a concrete set of public policies expressed in what we like to call the ‘D-L-P Formula’ (14). With this formula and by deregulating the economy, liberalizing the trade and industry, and privatizing the state-owned enterprises, neoliberals believe that neoliberalism will lead to a better economy and