Neoliberalism is both a political philosophy and a term used to signify the late-20th-century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism . The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is often used pejoratively. In scholarly use, the term is often left undefined or used to describe a multitude of phenomena. However, it is primarily employed to delineate the societal transformation resulting from market-based reforms.
169-537: Jacques Lucien Jean Delors ( French: [ʒak lysjɛ̃ ʒɑ̃ dəlɔʁ] ; 20 July 1925 – 27 December 2023) was a French politician who served as the eighth president of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995. Delors played a key role in the creation of the single market , the euro and the modern European Union . As president of the European Commission (EC), Delors
338-749: A first among equals . The role of the president is similar to that of a national prime minister chairing a cabinet. The president also has responsibility for representing the Commission in the Union and beyond. For example, they are a member of the European Council and takes part in debates in Parliament and the Council of Ministers. Outside the Union they attend the meetings of the G8 to represent
507-552: A head of government . In terms of economic planning Van Rompuy saw the commission as dealing with the content of the plan and the European Council as dealing with the means and implementing it. Despite weekly breakfasts together there was a certain extent of rivalry between the two, as well as with the High Representative. At international summits, both presidents represented the Union, with, in principle,
676-447: A plurality of votes in that year's election . However, at that time only a minor party had run with a specific candidate: the then fourth-placed European Green Party , which had the first true pan-European political party with a common campaign, put forward Daniel Cohn-Bendit and lost even its fourth place in the following election, becoming only the fifth-largest group in 2009 and diminishing its candidate's chances further. However,
845-477: A shock therapy , which rapidly transformed Chile from an economy with a protected market and strong government intervention into a liberalized, world-integrated economy, where market forces were left free to guide most of the economy's decisions. Inflation was tempered, falling from over 600% in 1974, to below 50% by 1979, to below 10% right before the economic crisis of 1982 ; GDP growth spiked (see chart) to 10%. however, inequality widened as wages and benefits to
1014-461: A "president", it would have been clearer if they had been named differently, with a "Speaker" of the Parliament, a "Governor" of the Central Bank, a "Chairman" of the (ordinary) Council of Ministers, a "president" of the European Council, and a "Prime Commissioner". Despite the presidential style, the president has also lost ground to the larger member states as countries such as France, Italy,
1183-415: A "slowly unfolding economic disaster" and bequeathed to the world increased inequalities, societal divisions, economic misery and a lack of meaningful politics. The Great Depression in the 1930s, which severely decreased economic output throughout the world and produced high unemployment and widespread poverty , was widely regarded as a failure of economic liberalism . To renew the damaged ideology,
1352-514: A civilian-military regime. Shortly after the inauguration of Fujimori, his government received a $ 715 million grant from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on 29 September 1990 for the Policy Analysis, Planning and Implementation Project (PAPI) that was developed "to support economic policy reform in the country". De Soto proved to be influential to Fujimori, who began to repeat de Soto's advocacy for deregulating
1521-688: A clear acceptance of the market economy, and an alignment with European social democracy . Critically, he held the line on France's membership of the European Monetary System (EMS), giving priority to monetary stability over left-wing spending priorities. Mitterrand flirted with the idea of naming him Prime Minister, but never made the appointment. Delors became the President of the European Commission in January 1985. During his presidency, he oversaw important budgetary reforms and laid
1690-415: A drop in the real salary of the working class. They also liberalized trade policy so that foreign goods could freely enter the country. Argentina's industry, which had been on the rise for 20 years after the economic policies of former president Arturo Frondizi , rapidly declined as it was not able to compete with foreign goods. Following the measures, there was an increase in poverty from 9% in 1975 to 40% at
1859-487: A formula for an economic policy agenda and instead infuses it with a moral ethos that "aspires to be a complete way of life and a holistic worldview, in a way that previous models of capitalism did not." Neoliberalism is distinct from liberalism insofar as it does not advocate laissez-faire economic policy, but instead is highly constructivist and advocates a strong state to bring about market-like reforms in every aspect of society. Anthropologist Jason Hickel also rejects
SECTION 10
#17328024532212028-620: A founding treaty of the union, which explains that the enumeration of presidents which ends with the present position starts with the first president of the Commission of the European Economic Community. The European Union is also the legal successor of the European Economic Community, or the European Community as it was named between 1993 and 2009. The establishment of the European Union in 1993 upon
2197-438: A government-appointed commission that ensured Pinochet would remain as president for a further eight years—with increased powers—after which he would face a re-election referendum. The Chicago Boys were given significant political influence within the military dictatorship , and they implemented sweeping economic reform . In contrast to the extensive nationalization and centrally planned economic programs supported by Allende,
2366-599: A group of 25 liberal intellectuals, including a number of prominent academics and journalists like Walter Lippmann , Friedrich Hayek , Ludwig von Mises , Wilhelm Röpke , Alexander Rüstow , and Louis Rougier , organized the Walter Lippmann Colloquium , named in honor of Lippmann to celebrate the publication of the French translation of Lippmann's pro- market book An Inquiry into the Principles of
2535-563: A longstanding interest in education. As the initiator of a French law in 1971 ( la formation professionnelle continue , FPC) requiring firms to set aside part of their profits for educational opportunities for their employees, he also chaired a UNESCO Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century from 1993 to 1996, whose final report was published as Learning: the Treasure Within . This work continues to have
2704-698: A new constitution to replace the Pinochet-era constitution, which entrenched certain neoliberal principles into the country's basic law, won with 78% of the vote. However, in September 2022 , the referendum to approve a rewritten the constitution was rejected with 61% of the vote. Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto , the founder of one of the first neoliberal organizations in Latin America, Institute for Liberty and Democracy (ILD), began to receive assistance from Ronald Reagan 's administration, with
2873-633: A philosophy that was more moderate than entirely Laissez-faire free-market capitalism and favored using state policy to temper social inequality and counter a tendency towards monopoly. In 1976, the military dictatorship 's economic plan led by José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz was the first attempt at establishing a neoliberal program in Argentina. They implemented a fiscal austerity plan that reduced money printing in an attempt to counter inflation. In order to achieve this, salaries were frozen; however, they were unable to reduce inflation, which led to
3042-469: A prime minister of a member state, but there is no such restraint on European offices. As such, the Commission president, who already sits in the European Council, could also be appointed as its president. This would allow the European Council to combine the position, with its powers, of both executive bodies into a single president of the European Union . The basic monthly salary of the president
3211-462: A public hearing. The Parliament then votes on the commission as a whole; if approved, the European Council, acting by a qualified majority, appoints the president and their team to office. Qualified majority in the council has led to more candidates being fielded while there has been greater politicisation due to the involvement of Parliament and the change of policy direction in the EU from the creation of
3380-702: A reduction in the rate of inflation , though Peru's poverty rate remained largely unchanged with over half of the population living in poverty in 1998. According to the Foundation for Economic Education , USAID, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Nippon Foundation also supported the sterilization efforts of the Fujimori government. E. Liagin reported that from 1993 to 1998, USAID "basically took charge of
3549-468: A requirement. The choice of President must take into account the result of the latest Parliamentary elections (for example, by choosing the candidate supported by the largest European political party in particular, or at least someone from that political family – the Spitzenkandidat principle, below – but this is a convention, not an obligation). That provision
SECTION 20
#17328024532213718-765: A significant influence on discourse on lifelong learning, forming the conceptual foundation for both the Canadian Composite Learning Index as well as the European Lifelong Learning Indicators (ELLI) project. In 1994, members of the Socialist Party attempted to persuade Delors to run for president. Polls showed that he would have a very good chance of defeating either of the main conservative contenders, Prime Minister Édouard Balladur and Mayor of Paris Jacques Chirac . However Delors declined to run and
3887-484: Is a political philosophy which seeks to "liberate" the processes of capital accumulation . In contrast, Frances Fox Piven sees neoliberalism as essentially hyper- capitalism . Robert W. McChesney , while defining neoliberalism similarly as "capitalism with the gloves off", goes on to assert that the term was largely unknown by the general public in 1998, particularly in the United States . Lester Spence uses
4056-622: Is a rolling agreement along these lines, that a president from a large state is followed by a president from a small state, and one from the political left will be followed by one from the political right: Roy Jenkins (British socialist) was followed by Gaston Thorn (Luxembourgish liberal), Jacques Delors (French socialist), Jacques Santer (Luxembourgish Christian democrat), Romano Prodi (Italian left-wing Christian democrat) and José Manuel Barroso (Portuguese Christian democrat). However, despite these assumptions, these presidents have usually been chosen during political battles and coalition-building. Delors
4225-401: Is almost never defined but used in several senses to describe ideology, economic theory, development theory, or economic reform policy. It has become used largely as a term of abuse and/or to imply a laissez-faire market fundamentalism virtually identical to that of classical liberalism – rather than the ideas of those who attended the 1938 colloquium. As a result, there is controversy as to
4394-491: Is an economic philosophy that originated among European liberal scholars during the 1930s. It emerged as a response to the perceived decline in popularity of classical liberalism , which was seen as giving way to a social liberal desire to control markets. This shift in thinking was shaped by the Great Depression and manifested in policies designed to counter the volatility of free markets . One motivation for
4563-707: Is commonly used as a pejorative by critics, outpacing similar terms such as monetarism , neoconservatism , the Washington Consensus and "market reform" in much scholarly writing. The Handbook of Neoliberalism , for instance, posits that the term has "become a means of identifying a seemingly ubiquitous set of market-oriented policies as being largely responsible for a wide range of social, political, ecological and economic problems". Its use in this manner has been criticized by those who advocate for policies characterized as neoliberal. The Handbook , for example, further argues that "such lack of specificity [for
4732-508: Is conducted through their calling and chairing of meetings of the College of Commissioners, their personal cabinet and the meetings of the heads of each commissioner's cabinet (the Hebdo). The president may also force a Commissioner to resign. The work of the commission as a body is based on the principle of cabinet collective responsibility ; however, in their powers they act as more than
4901-466: Is contemporarily used to refer to market-oriented reform policies such as "eliminating price controls , deregulating capital markets , lowering trade barriers " and reducing, especially through privatization and austerity , state influence in the economy. It is also commonly associated with the economic policies introduced by Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom and Ronald Reagan in
5070-401: Is empowered to allocate portfolios among, reshuffle, or dismiss commissioners as necessary. The college directs the commission's civil service, sets the policy agenda and determines the legislative proposals it produces. The commission is the only body that can propose , or draft, bills to become EU laws . The commission president also represents the EU abroad, together with the president of
5239-572: Is fixed at 138% of the top civil service grade which, in 2013, amounted to €25,351 per month or €304,212 per year plus an allowance for a residence equal to 15% of salary as well as other allowances including for children's schooling and household expenses. The European Economic Community was established by the Treaty of Rome , presently known as the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;
Jacques Delors - Misplaced Pages Continue
5408-506: Is inherently political in nature, extending beyond mere economic considerations. The term is rarely used by proponents of free-market policies. When the term entered into common academic use during the 1980s in association with Augusto Pinochet 's economic reforms in Chile , it quickly acquired negative connotations and was employed principally by critics of market reform and laissez-faire capitalism . Scholars tended to associate it with
5577-739: Is near the Latin American average, Chile still has one of the highest Gini coefficients in the OECD , an organization of mostly developed countries that includes Chile but not most other Latin American countries. Furthermore, the Gini coefficient measures only income inequality ; Chile has more mixed inequality ratings in the OECD's Better Life Index , which includes indexes for more factors than only income, like housing and education . Additionally,
5746-435: Is often associated with a set of economic liberalization policies, including privatization , deregulation , consumer choice , globalization , free trade , monetarism , austerity , and reductions in government spending . These policies are designed to increase the role of the private sector in the economy and society . Additionally, the neoliberal project is oriented towards the establishment of institutions and
5915-400: Is then put before Parliament which must approve or veto the appointment. If an absolute majority of MEPs support the nominee, they are elected. The president then, together with the council, puts forward their team to the Parliament to be scrutinised. The Parliament normally insists that each one of them appear before the parliamentary committee that corresponds to their prospective portfolio for
6084-630: The Handelsblatt newspaper that "If the British cannot support the trend towards more integration in Europe, we can nevertheless remain friends, but on a different basis. I could imagine a form such as a European economic area or a free-trade agreement." On 25 June 2015, Donald Tusk announced that Delors would become the third person to have the title of Honorary Citizen of Europe bestowed upon them, in recognition of "his remarkable contribution to
6253-454: The ALDE group leader Graham Watson who described the procedure as a " Justus Lipsius carpet market" producing only the "lowest common denominator"; while Green-EFA co-leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit asked Barroso after his first speech "If you are the best candidate, why were you not the first?" The candidate selected by the Council has often been a leading national politician, but this is not
6422-675: The Asia-Pacific , the Middle East , and China implementing significant neoliberal reform. Additionally, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank encouraged neoliberal reforms in many developing countries by placing reform requirements on loans, in a process known as structural adjustment . Neoliberal ideas were first implemented in West Germany . The economists around Ludwig Erhard drew on
6591-584: The Club of Rome . On 15 September 2010, Delors supported the new initiative Spinelli Group , which was founded to reinvigorate the striving for federalization of the European Union . Other prominent supporters include Daniel Cohn-Bendit , Guy Verhofstadt , Sylvie Goulard , Andrew Duff , and Elmar Brok . In 2010, Delors was the first to be given the Leonardo European Corporate Learning Award. In 2012, Delors stated in
6760-492: The Colloque Walter Lippmann , the term neoliberalism was proposed, among other terms, and ultimately chosen to be used to describe a certain set of economic beliefs. The colloquium defined the concept of neoliberalism as involving "the priority of the price mechanism, free enterprise, the system of competition, and a strong and impartial state". According to attendees Louis Rougier and Friedrich Hayek ,
6929-639: The Common Agricultural Policy , which would give the Community its own financial resources while giving more power to the Commission and Parliament and removing the veto power over Agriculture in the council. These proposals led to an immediate backlash from France. Hallstein knew the proposals would be contentious, and took personal charge of drafting them, over-riding the Agriculture Commissioner . However he did gain
Jacques Delors - Misplaced Pages Continue
7098-476: The European Parliament from 1979 to 1981, becoming chairman of its Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, actively taking part in debates about economic, social, and monetary policies. Under President François Mitterrand , Delors served as Economics and Finance Minister from 1981 to 1983, and Economics, Finance, and Budget Minister from 1983 to 1984. He advocated a pause in the social policies,
7267-713: The European People's Party (EPP) endorsed Barroso as its candidate for Commission president, and the EPP subsequently retained its position as largest party in that year's election. The Socialists responded by pledging to put forward a rival candidate at future elections. Once again, Barroso was forced by Parliament to make a change to his proposed Commission, but eventually received assent. However, in exchange for approval, Parliament forced some concessions from Barroso in terms of Parliamentary representation at Commission and international meetings. On 7 September 2010, Barroso gave
7436-566: The Fontaine-la-Gaillarde cemetery. President of the European Commission The president of the European Commission , also known as president of the College of Commissioners or prime commissioner , is the head of the European Commission , the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The president of the commission leads a cabinet of commissioners, referred to as the college. The president
7605-518: The Great Recession . In sum, the neoliberal policies of the 1980s and 1990s—initiated by a repressive authoritarian government —transformed the Chilean economy from a protected market with high barriers to trade and hefty government intervention into one of the world's most open free-market economies. Chile experienced the worst economic bust of any Latin American country during
7774-597: The Latin American debt crisis (several years into neoliberal reform), but also had one of the most robust recoveries, rising from the poorest Latin American country in terms of GDP per capita in 1980 (along with Peru) to the richest in 2019. Average annual economic growth from the mid-1980s to the Asian crisis in 1997 was 7.2%, 3.5% between 1998 and 2005, and growth in per capita real income from 1985 to 1996 averaged 5%—all outpacing Latin American averages. Inflation
7943-467: The National Endowment for Democracy 's Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) providing his ILD with funding. The economic policy of President Alan García distanced Peru from international markets, resulting in lower foreign investment in the country. Under García, Peru experienced hyperinflation and increased confrontations with the guerrilla group Shining Path , leading
8112-671: The Political groups of the European Parliament ) nominating their candidate for Commission President prior to the Parliamentary elections. The Spitzenkandidat of the largest party (or the one able to secure the support of a majority coalition) would then have a mandate to assume the Commission Presidency. This process was first run in 2014, and its legitimacy was contested by some of the members of
8281-461: The Socialist group , stated that her group thought "Parliament should refuse to condone a practice which so sullies the democratic process". There were similar deals in 1999 and 2004 saw a repeat of Santer's appointment when Barroso was appointed through a series of secret meetings between leaders with no press releases on the negotiations being released. This was sharply criticised by MEPs such as
8450-479: The United States , the Chilean armed forces and national police overthrew the Allende government in a coup d'état . They established a repressive military junta , known for its violent suppression of opposition , and appointed army chief Augusto Pinochet Supreme Head of the nation. His rule was later given legal legitimacy through a controversial 1980 plebiscite , which approved a new constitution drafted by
8619-583: The military rule under Augusto Pinochet (1973–1990) in Chile, opposition scholars took up the expression to describe the economic reforms implemented there and its proponents (the Chicago Boys ). Once this new meaning was established among Spanish-speaking scholars, it diffused into the English-language study of political economy. According to one study of 148 scholarly articles, neoliberalism
SECTION 50
#17328024532218788-555: The president of the European Council is a "strategist". The High Representative specialises in "bilateral relations" while the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy deals in technical matters such as the free trade agreement with Ukraine. The president of the European Parliament meanwhile articulates the EU's values. The MEP and author of several EU text books Richard Corbett has suggested that, instead of every EU institution having
8957-410: The single market to reform of it. However, despite this, the choice within the Council remains largely behind closed doors. During the appointment of Santer, discussions were kept in camera ("private" from Latin "in chamber"), with the media relying on insider leaks. MEPs were angry with the process, against the spirit of consultation that the new EU treaty brought in. Pauline Green MEP, leader of
9126-636: The stagflation of the 1970s. The collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War also facilitated the rise of neoliberalism in the United States and around the world. The term neoliberalism has become increasingly prevalent in recent decades. It has been a significant factor in the proliferation of conservative and right-libertarian organizations, political parties , and think tanks , and predominantly advocated by them. Neoliberalism
9295-495: The " Luxembourg compromise ", Hallstein became the scapegoat for the crisis. The Council refused to renew his term, despite his being the most 'dynamic' leader until Jacques Delors . Hallstein's work did position the commission as a substantial power. The presidents were involved in the major political projects of the day in the 1970s, such as the European Monetary Union . In 1970, President Jean Rey secured
9464-675: The "clearest repudiation of the country's establishment". In the 1960s, Latin American intellectuals began to notice the ideas of ordoliberalism ; they often used the Spanish term "neoliberalismo" to refer to this school of thought. They were particularly impressed by the social market economy and the Wirtschaftswunder ("economic miracle") in Germany and speculated about the possibility of accomplishing similar policies in their own countries. Neoliberalism in 1960s Argentina meant
9633-720: The 1940s through the 1960s a series of posts in French banking and state planning with the Bank of France . As a member of the French Confederation of Christian Workers (CFTC), he participated in its secularization and the foundation of the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT). In 1969, he became social affairs adviser to the Gaullist Prime Minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas , a move which
9802-475: The 1950s and 1960s understood neoliberalism as referring to the social market economy and its principal economic theorists such as Walter Eucken , Wilhelm Röpke , Alexander Rüstow and Alfred Müller-Armack . Although Hayek had intellectual ties to the German neoliberals, his name was only occasionally mentioned in conjunction with neoliberalism during this period due to his more pro-free market stance. During
9971-489: The 1970s to "describe and decry a late twentieth-century effort by policymakers, think-tank experts, and industrialists to condemn social-democratic reforms and unapologetically implement free-market policies"; economic historian Phillip W. Magness notes its reemergence in academic literature in the mid-1980s, after French philosopher Michel Foucault brought attention to it. At a base level we can say that when we make reference to 'neoliberalism', we are generally referring to
10140-442: The 1980s, "have contributed to steady economic growth in Chile and have more than halved poverty rates," and some scholars have even called the period the " Miracle of Chile ". Other scholars have called it a failure that led to extreme inequalities in the distribution of income and resulted in severe socioeconomic damage. It is also contested how much these changes were the result of neoliberal economic policies and how much they were
10309-507: The 1990s, Chile maintained high growth, averaging 7.3% from 1990 to 1998. Eduardo Aninat, writing for the IMF journal Finance & Development , called the period from 1986 to 2000 "the longest, strongest, and most stable period of growth in [Chile's] history." In 1999, there was a brief recession brought about by the Asian financial crisis , with growth resuming in 2000 and remaining near 5% until
SECTION 60
#173280245322110478-506: The Chicago Boys implemented rapid and extensive privatization of state enterprises, deregulation, and significant reductions in trade barriers during the latter half of the 1970s. In 1978, policies that would further reduce the role of the state and infuse competition and individualism into areas such as labor relations, pensions, health and education were introduced. > Additionally, the central bank raised interest rates from 49.9% to 178% to counter high inflation. These policies amounted to
10647-424: The Commission president speaking on economic questions and the European Council president on political questions, although this division is often hard to maintain in practice. Although there are concerns that this competition with the European Council president would lead to increased infighting, there are provisions for combining the two offices. The European Council president may not hold a national office, such as
10816-428: The Community around, he signalled a change in the Presidency. Before he came to power, the Commission president still was a position of first among equals ; when he left office, he was the undisputed icon and leader of the Community. His tenure had produced a strong Presidency and a strong Commission as the president became more important. Following treaties cemented this change, with the president being given control over
10985-399: The Community's own financial resources, and in 1977, President Roy Jenkins became the first Commission president to attend a G7 summit on behalf of the Community. However, owing to problems such as the 1973 oil crisis and the 1979 energy crisis , economic hardship reduced the priority of European integration, with only the president trying to keep the idea alive. The member states had
11154-480: The Council and Parliament. Delors had enjoyed the Parliament's and the council's support for his whole term, during which, through treaty changes, the Parliament increased in powers and, through the accession of new member states, the Council increased in membership. The membership is now so large the president is increasingly unable to garner the support of all the states, even though the job is supposed to try to keep everyone happy. The Parliament now has more powers over
11323-436: The Democratic Party of the United States. The neoliberals coalesced around two magazines, The New Republic and the Washington Monthly , and often supported Third Way policies. The "godfather" of this version of neoliberalism was the journalist Charles Peters , who, in 1983, published "A Neoliberal's Manifesto". Historian Elizabeth Shermer argued that the term gained popularity largely among left-leaning academics in
11492-402: The EPP selected Barroso as its candidate and, as the largest party, it was able to ensure his turn was renewed. The Socialists, disappointed at the 2009 election, agreed to put forward a candidate for Commission President at all subsequent elections. After a campaign within that party to have open primaries for said candidate, the PES Congress gathering in Brussels in November 2011 decided that
11661-494: The European Council and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy . The post was established in 1958. Each new president is nominated by the European Council and elected by the European Parliament, for a five-year term. The president of the commission also delivers an annual State of the Union address to the European Parliament . In July 2019, the European Council nominated Ursula von der Leyen to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker , and she
11830-416: The European Council (with the UK and Hungarian Prime Ministers voting against the nomination of the EPP's Spitzenkandidat Jean Claude Juncker (see below)). The president is elected for a renewable five-year term starting five months after the elections to the European Parliament . These were brought into alignment via the Maastricht Treaty (prior to which the commission had a four-year term of office) and
11999-410: The European Parliament used its powers to force the Santer Commission to resign. Historically, the Council appointed the Commission president and the whole body by unanimity without input from Parliament. However, with the Treaty on European Union in 1993, the European Parliament, the body elected directly by the citizens of the European Union, gained the right to be consulted on the appointment of
12168-757: The Good Society . Meeting in Paris in August 1938, they called for a new liberal project, with "neoliberalism" one name floated for the fledgling movement. They further agreed to develop the Colloquium into a permanent think tank based in Paris called the Centre International d'Études pour la Rénovation du Libéralisme. While most agreed that the status quo liberalism promoting laissez-faire economics had failed, deep disagreements arose around
12337-478: The Great Depression while Mises denounced the other faction, complaining that the ordoliberalism they advocated really meant "ordo-interventionism". Divided in opinion and short on funding, the Colloquium was mostly ineffectual; related attempts to further neoliberal ideas, such as the effort by Colloque-attendee Wilhelm Röpke to establish a journal of neoliberal ideas, mostly floundered. Fatefully,
12506-608: The PES would designate its candidate for Commission president through primaries taking place in January 2014 in each of its member parties and organisations, before a ratification of the results by an Extraordinary PES Congress in February 2014. The lead candidate ( German : Spitzenkandidat ) process is the method of linking the choice of President of the Commission to the outcome of the European Parliament elections, by having each major European Political Party (not to be confused with
12675-400: The Parliament elects, rather than simply approves, the council's proposed candidate. This was taken as the parliament's cue to have its parties run with candidates for the president of the commission with the candidate of the winning party being proposed by the council. This was partly put into practice in 2004 when the European Council selected a candidate from the political party which secured
12844-594: The Peruvian economy. Under Fujimori, de Soto served as "the President's personal representative", with The New York Times describing de Soto as an "overseas salesman", while others dubbed de Soto as the "informal president" for Fujimori. In a recommendation to Fujimori, de Soto called for a "shock" to Peru's economy. The policies included a 300% tax increase, unregulated prices and privatizing two-hundred and fifty state-owned entities. The policies of de Soto led to
13013-461: The Socialist Party from 2008 to 2012, and a son, Jean-Paul Delors, who was a journalist and died aged 29 in 1982 from leukaemia . Delors died in his sleep at his home in Paris, on 27 December 2023, aged 98. He was honored with a state funeral at the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris on 5 January in the presence of political figures from all over Europe before his burial alongside his wife and his son at
13182-539: The UK and Germany sought to sideline its role. This has increased with the creation of the permanent president of the European Council . There was disagreement and concern over competition between the former president of the European Council Van Rompuy and the former Commission president Barroso due to the vague language of the treaty. Some clarifications saw Van Rompuy as the "strategist" and Barroso as
13351-554: The Union. However, in foreign affairs, the president does have to compete with several Commissioners with foreign affairs related portfolios: the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the president of the European Council . The presidential system had started to develop since Jacques Delors and has since been cemented. However, externally they are still dependent on support from
13520-539: The United States. Some scholars note it has a number of distinct usages in different spheres: There is debate over the meaning of the term. Sociologists Fred L. Block and Margaret Somers claim there is a dispute over what to call the influence of free-market ideas which have been used to justify the retrenchment of New Deal programs and policies since the 1980s: neoliberalism, laissez-faire or "free market ideology". Other academics such as Susan Braedley, Med Luxton, and Robert W. McChesney, assert that neoliberalism
13689-410: The allocation of portfolios and being able to force the resignation of Commissioners. When President Romano Prodi took office with the new powers of the Treaty of Amsterdam , he was dubbed by the press as Europe's first Prime Minister. President Delors' work had increased the powers of the Parliament, whose support he had enjoyed. However, later Commissions did not enjoy the same support, and in 1999,
13858-651: The benefits are concentrated in Lima." In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru compounded these disparities, with political scientist Professor Farid Kahhat of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru stating that, "market reforms in Peru have yielded positive results in terms of reducing poverty ... But what the pandemic has laid bare, particularly in Peru, is that poverty was reduced while leaving
14027-479: The choice of the Council include: which area of Europe the candidate comes from, favoured as Southern Europe in 2004; the candidate's political influence, credible yet not overpowering members; language, proficiency in French considered necessary by France; and degree of integration, their state being a member of both the eurozone and the Schengen Agreement . There has been an assumption that there
14196-474: The classical liberal notion that competition drives economic prosperity. However, they argued that a laissez-faire state policy stifles competition, as the strong devour the weak since monopolies and cartels could pose a threat to freedom of competition. They supported the creation of a well-developed legal system and capable regulatory apparatus. While still opposed to full-scale Keynesian employment policies or an extensive welfare state , German neoliberal theory
14365-547: The commission and can reject its proposals, although the commission has little power over Parliament, such as the ability to dissolve it to call new elections. The president's office is on the top, 13th, floor of the Berlaymont building in Brussels. The president receives their political guidance from their cabinet , the head of which acts as a political bodyguard for the president. Such factors can lead to an isolation of
14534-400: The commission began to recover under President Jacques Delors ' Commission . He is seen as the most successful president, being credited with having given the Community a sense of direction and dynamism. The International Herald Tribune noted the work of Delors at the end of his second term in 1992: "Mr. Delors rescued the European Community from the doldrums. He arrived when Europessimism
14703-482: The competition of neoliberalism would establish an elite structure of successful individuals that would assume power in society, with these elites replacing the existing representative democracy acting on the behalf of the majority. To be neoliberal meant advocating a modern economic policy with state intervention . Neoliberal state interventionism brought a clash with the opposing laissez-faire camp of classical liberals, like Ludwig von Mises . Most scholars in
14872-483: The country towards high levels of instability. The Peruvian armed forces grew frustrated with the inability of the García administration to handle the nation's crises and began to draft an operation – Plan Verde – to overthrow his government. The military's Plan Verde involved the " total extermination " of impoverished and indigenous Peruvians perceived as a drain on the economy, the control or censorship of media in
15041-451: The developed world was under threat from collectivist trends, which they outlined in their statement of aims: The central values of civilization are in danger. Over large stretches of the Earth's surface the essential conditions of human dignity and freedom have already disappeared. In others, they are under constant menace from the development of current tendencies of policy. The position of
15210-450: The development of policies designed to mitigate the volatility of capitalist free markets was a desire to avoid repeating the economic failures of the early 1930s, which have been attributed, in part, to the economic policy of classical liberalism. In the context of policymaking, the term neoliberalism is often used to describe a paradigm shift that followed the failure of the post-war consensus and neo-Keynesian economics to address
15379-476: The development of the European project". In March 2024, Delores was posthumously given a "Special Recognition" award at The Parliament Magazine 's annual MEP Awards , in recognition of his contributions towards the European project, to mark the awards' 20th anniversary. Delors was married to Marie Lephaille until her death in 2020. They had a daughter, Martine Aubry , who served as First Secretary of
15548-444: The earliest nations to implement neoliberal reform. Marxist economic geographer David Harvey has described the substantial neoliberal reforms in Chile beginning in the 1970s as "the first experiment with neoliberal state formation", which would provide "helpful evidence to support the subsequent turn to neoliberalism in both Britain... and the United States." Similarly, Vincent Bevins says that Chile under Augusto Pinochet "became
15717-550: The early 1970s. After several years of socialist economic policies under president Salvador Allende , a 1973 coup d'état , which established a military junta under dictator Augusto Pinochet , led to the implementation of a number of sweeping neoliberal economic reforms that had been proposed by the Chicago Boys , a group of Chilean economists educated under Milton Friedman . This "neoliberal project" served as "the first experiment with neoliberal state formation" and provided an example for neoliberal reforms elsewhere. Beginning in
15886-575: The early 1980s, the Reagan administration and Thatcher government implemented a series of neoliberal economic reforms to counter the chronic stagflation the United States and United Kingdom had each experienced throughout the 1970s. Neoliberal policies continued to dominate American and British politics until the Great Recession . Following British and American reform, neoliberal policies were exported abroad, with countries in Latin America ,
16055-501: The economy. It would not be until a succession of economic downturns and crises in the 1970s that neoliberal policy proposals would be widely implemented. By this time, neoliberal thought had evolved. The early neoliberal ideas of the Mont Pelerin Society had sought to chart a middle way between the trend of increasing government intervention implemented after the Great Depression and the laissez-faire economics many in
16224-431: The efforts of the Colloquium would be overwhelmed by the outbreak of World War II and were largely forgotten. Nonetheless, the Colloquium served as the first meeting of the nascent neoliberal movement and would serve as the precursor to the Mont Pelerin Society , a far more successful effort created after the war by many of those who had been present at the Colloquium. Neoliberalism began accelerating in importance with
16393-463: The elections take place in June every five years (in years ending in 4 and 9). This alignment has led to a closer relationship between the elections and the president themself with the above-mentioned proposals for political parties running with candidates. The president and their Commission may be removed from office by a vote of censure from Parliament. Parliament has never done this to date; however,
16562-672: The entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty (formally the Treaty on European Union) did not affect the name of the position. Upon its entry into force in 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon renamed the Commission of the European Communities the European Commission, reflecting the de facto name as well as the fact that the European Communities pillar was abolished along with the rest of the pillar system. Groups Neoliberalism Neoliberalism
16731-445: The epicenter of the community as Europeans dominated the leadership roles. Established during a time when central planning was in the ascendancy worldwide and there were few avenues for neoliberals to influence policymakers, the society became a "rallying point" for neoliberals, as Milton Friedman phrased it, bringing together isolated advocates of liberalism and capitalism . They were united in their belief that individual freedom in
16900-477: The establishment of the Mont Pelerin Society in 1947, whose founding members included Friedrich Hayek , Milton Friedman , Karl Popper , George Stigler and Ludwig von Mises . Meeting annually, it became a "kind of international 'who's who' of the classical liberal and neo-liberal intellectuals." While the first conference in 1947 was almost half American, the Europeans dominated by 1951. Europe would remain
17069-549: The euro, a new single currency to replace individual national currencies. This was achieved by the signing of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. Delors was a member of the French Socialist Party . Before becoming president of the EC, he was France's finance minister from 1981 to 1984, and a member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1981. Born in Paris in a family originating from Corrèze , Delors first held in
17238-595: The eventual Socialist nominee, Lionel Jospin , was defeated in the 1995 presidential election by Jacques Chirac. Delors founded the Paris-based, centre-left think tank Notre Europe in 1996 and remained one of its presidents for the rest of his life. He was president of the Conseil de l'emploi, des revenus et de la cohésion sociale , and an honorary member of both the Institut Aspen France and
17407-401: The first US-style State of the Union address to Parliament, which focused primarily on the EU's economic recovery and human rights. The speech was to be annual. Article 17 of the Treaty on European Union , as amended by the Treaty of Lisbon , lays out the procedure for appointing the president and their team. The European Council votes by reinforced qualified majority for a nominee for
17576-665: The former seeks to disrupt and overcome any institutions which stand in the way. Radhika Desai, director of the Geopolitical Economy Research Group at the University of Manitoba , argues that global capitalism reached its peak in 1914, just prior to the two great wars, anti-capitalist revolutions and Keynesian reforms, and the purpose of neoliberalism was to restore capitalism to the preeminence it once enjoyed. She argues that this process has failed as contemporary neoliberal capitalism has fostered
17745-429: The fringes of Chilean economic and political thought for a number of years, as the presidency of Salvador Allende (1970–1973) brought about a socialist reorientation of the economy. During the Allende presidency, Chile experienced a severe economic crisis, in which inflation peaked near 150%. Following an extended period of social unrest and political tension, as well as diplomatic, economic, and covert pressure from
17914-437: The government, which was received with disapproval by Fujimori. USAID would go on to assist the Fujimori government with rewriting the 1993 Peruvian constitution, with the agency concluding in 1997 that it helped with the "preparation of legislative texts" and "contributed to the emergence of a private sector advisory role". The policies promoted by de Soto and implemented by Fujimori eventually caused macroeconomic stability and
18083-700: The groundwork for the introduction of a single market within the European Community . It came into effect on 1 January 1993 and allowed the free movement of persons, capital, goods, and services within the Community. Delors also headed the Committee for the Study of Economic and Monetary Union, widely known as the Delors Committee , that in early 1989 proposed the creation of a new currency—the euro—to replace individual national currencies. This
18252-438: The growth of a view of history which denies all absolute moral standards and by the growth of theories which question the desirability of the rule of law. It holds further that they have been fostered by a decline of belief in private property and the competitive market...[This group's] object is solely, by facilitating the exchange of views among minds inspired by certain ideals and broad conceptions held in common, to contribute to
18421-514: The high interest rates of the period which—while stabilizing inflation—hampered investment and contributed to widespread bankruptcy in the banking industry. Other scholars fault governmental departures from the neoliberal agenda ; for instance, the government pegged the Chilean peso to the US dollar, against the wishes of the Chicago Boys, which economists believe led to an overvalued peso. After
18590-421: The idea that the word is nothing more than a political slur, or a term without any analytic power". Gary Gerstle argues that neoliberalism is a legitimate term, and describes it as "a creed that calls explicitly for unleashing capitalism's power." He distinguishes neoliberalism from traditional conservatism, as the latter values respect for traditions and bolstering the institutions which reinforce them, whereas
18759-485: The immediate suffering of poor Peruvians who saw unregulated prices increase rapidly. Those living in poverty saw prices increase so much that they could no longer afford food. The New York Times wrote that de Soto advocated for the collapse of Peru's society, with the economist saying that a civil crisis was necessary to support the policies of Fujimori. Fujimori and de Soto would ultimately break their ties after de Soto recommended increased involvement of citizens within
18928-539: The imminence of such a vote in 1999, due to allegations of financial mismanagement, led to the Santer Commission resigning on its own accord, before the Parliamentary vote. The president of the European Commission is the most powerful position in the European Union, controlling the Commission which collectively has the right of initiative on Union legislation (only on matters delegated to it by member states for collective action, as determined by
19097-466: The increased economic freedom he believed the neoliberal reforms had brought had put pressure on the dictatorship over time, resulting in a gradual increase in political freedom and, ultimately, the restoration of democracy. The Chilean scholars Javier Martínez and Alvaro Díaz reject this argument, pointing to the long tradition of democracy in Chile. They assert that the defeat of the Pinochet regime and
19266-477: The individual and the voluntary group are progressively undermined by extensions of arbitrary power. Even that most precious possession of Western Man, freedom of thought and expression, is threatened by the spread of creeds which, claiming the privilege of tolerance when in the position of a minority, seek only to establish a position of power in which they can suppress and obliterate all views but their own...The group holds that these developments have been fostered by
19435-532: The interventionist excesses of the Erhard ministry and the ordoliberals, Mises wrote: "I have no illusions about the true character of the politics and politicians of the social market economy". According to Mises, Erhard's teacher Franz Oppenheimer "taught more or less the New Frontier line of" President Kennedy's "Harvard consultants ( Schlesinger , Galbraith , etc.)". In Germany, neoliberalism at first
19604-432: The label "neoliberalism", criticized that development tendency and pressed for a more limited welfare program. Hayek did not like the expression "social market economy", but stated in 1976 that some of his friends in Germany had succeeded in implementing the sort of social order for which he was pleading while using that phrase. In Hayek's view, the social market economy's aiming for both a market economy and social justice
19773-482: The liberal focus on individualism and economic freedom must not be abandoned to collectivism. For decades after the formation of the Mont Pelerin Society , the ideas of the society would remain largely on the fringes of political policy, confined to a number of think-tanks and universities and achieving only measured success with the ordoliberals in Germany , who maintained the need for strong state influence in
19942-427: The miserable state of public services unaltered – most clearly in the case of health services." The candidacy of Pedro Castillo in the 2021 Peruvian general election brought attention to the disparities between urban and rural Peruvians, with much of his support being earned in the exterior portions of the country. Castillo ultimately won the election, with The New York Times reporting his victory as
20111-420: The most important old age income source for a majority of the German population, therefore despite liberal rhetoric the 1950s witnessed what has been called a "reluctant expansion of the welfare state". To end widespread poverty among the elderly the pension reform of 1957 brought a significant extension of the German welfare state which already had been established under Otto von Bismarck . Rüstow, who had coined
20280-469: The nation and the establishment of a neoliberal economy in Peru. During his campaigning for the 1990 Peruvian general election , Alberto Fujimori initially expressed concern against the proposed neoliberal policies of his opponent Mario Vargas Llosa . Peruvian magazine Oiga reported that, following the election, the armed forces were unsure of Fujimori's willingness to fulfill the plan's objectives, though they planned to convince Fujimori to agree to
20449-577: The national health system of Peru" during the period of forced sterilizations. At least 300,000 Peruvians were victims of forced sterilization by the Fujimori government in the 1990s, with the majority being affected by the PNSRPF . The policy of sterilizations resulted in a generational shift that included a smaller younger generation that could not provide economic stimulation to rural areas, making such regions more impoverished. Though economic statistics show improved economic data in Peru in recent decades,
20618-623: The neoliberal policies of the Chicago boys. Some scholars attribute the successes to the re-regulation of the banking industry and a number of targeted social programs designed to alleviate poverty. Others say that while the economy had stabilized and was growing by the late 1980s, inequality widened: nearly 45% of the population had fallen into poverty while the wealthiest 10% had seen their incomes rise by 83%. According to Chilean economist Alejandro Foxley , when Pinochet finished his 17-year term by 1990, around 44% of Chilean families were living below
20787-405: The new political, economic and social arrangements within society that emphasize market relations, re-tasking the role of the state, and individual responsibility . Most scholars tend to agree that neoliberalism is broadly defined as the extension of competitive markets into all areas of life, including the economy , politics and society . The Handbook of Neoliberalism Neoliberalism
20956-510: The notion that neoliberalism necessitates the retreat of the state in favor of totally free markets, arguing that the spread of neoliberalism required substantial state intervention to establish a global 'free market'. Naomi Klein states that the three policy pillars of neoliberalism are " privatization of the public sphere, deregulation of the corporate sector, and the lowering of income and corporate taxes , paid for with cuts to public spending ". According to some scholars, neoliberalism
21125-470: The operation prior to his inauguration. After taking office, Fujimori abandoned his campaign's economic platform, adopting more aggressive neoliberal policies than those espoused by his election competitor Vargas Llosa. With Fujimori's compliance, plans for a coup as designed in Plan Verde were prepared for two years and finally executed during the 1992 Peruvian coup d'état , which ultimately established
21294-433: The percentage of the Chilean population living in poverty rose from 17% in 1969 to 45% in 1985 at the same time government budgets for education, health and housing dropped by over 20% on average. The era was also marked by economic instability. Overall, scholars have mixed opinions on the effects of the neoliberal reforms. The CIA World Factbook states that Chile's "sound economic policies", maintained consistently since
21463-421: The post of President, taking account of the latest European elections . According to Article 238 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the qualified majority is in this case a 'reinforced qualified majority' since the European Council votes on a proposal not coming from the European Commission or the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy . This proposal
21632-588: The poverty line. Despite years of suppression by the Pinochet junta, a presidential election was held in 1988, as dictated by the 1980 constitution (though not without Pinochet first holding another plebiscite in an attempt to amend the constitution). In 1990, Patricio Aylwin was democratically elected, bringing an end to the military dictatorship. The reasons cited for Pinochet's acceptance of democratic transition are numerous. Hayek, echoing arguments he had made years earlier in The Road to Serfdom , argued that
21801-511: The precise meaning of the term and its usefulness as a descriptor in the social sciences , especially as the number of different kinds of market economies have proliferated in recent years. Unrelated to the economic philosophy described in this article, the term "neoliberalism" is also used to describe a centrist political movement from modern American liberalism in the 1970s. According to political commentator David Brooks , prominent neoliberal politicians included Al Gore and Bill Clinton of
21970-624: The preservation and improvement of the free society. The society set out to develop a neoliberal alternative to, on the one hand, the laissez-faire economic consensus that had collapsed with the Great Depression and, on the other, New Deal liberalism and British social democracy , collectivist trends which they believed posed a threat to individual freedom. They believed that classical liberalism had failed because of crippling conceptual flaws which could only be diagnosed and rectified by withdrawing into an intensive discussion group of similarly minded intellectuals; however, they were determined that
22139-482: The president and to veto the commission as a whole. Parliament decided to interpret its right to be consulted as a right to veto the president, which the Council reluctantly accepted. This right of veto was formalised in the Amsterdam Treaty . The Treaty of Nice changed the council's vote from a unanimous choice to one that merely needed a qualified majority . This meant that the weight of the Parliament in
22308-583: The president from outside events. For the European Civil Service the president has a very high status, due to their immense authority and symbolism within the body. The president exercises further authority through the legal service and Secretariat-General of the Commission . The former has the power to strike down proposals on legal technicalities while the latter organises meetings, agendas and minutes. The president's control over these areas gives them further political tools when directing
22477-461: The process increased resulting in a quasi- parliamentary system where one group could be in government. This became evident when numerous candidates were put forward in 2004, and a centre-right vote won out over left-wing groups, France and Germany. José Manuel Barroso , elected Commission president that year, was then forced to back down over his choice of Commissioners, owing to Parliament's threat that it would not approve his Commission. In 2009,
22646-413: The proper role of the state . A group of "true (third way) neoliberals" centered around Rüstow and Lippmann advocated for strong state supervision of the economy while a group of old school liberals centered around Mises and Hayek continued to insist that the only legitimate role for the state was to abolish barriers to market entry. Rüstow wrote that Hayek and Mises were relics of the liberalism that caused
22815-404: The recession, Chilean economic growth rose quickly, eventually hovering between 5% and 10% and significantly outpacing the Latin American average (see chart). Additionally, unemployment decreased and the percent of the population below the poverty line declined from 50% in 1984 to 34% by 1989. This led Milton Friedman to call the period the " Miracle of Chile ", and he attributed the successes to
22984-606: The result of other factors; in particular, some scholars argue that after the Crisis of 1982 the "pure" neoliberalism of the late 1970s was replaced by a focus on fostering a social market economy that mixed neoliberal and social welfare policies. As a response to the 2019–20 Chilean protests , a national plebiscite was held in October 2020 to decide whether the Chilean constitution would be rewritten. The "approve" option for
23153-525: The return of democracy came primarily from large-scale mass rebellion that eventually forced party elites to use existing institutional mechanisms to restore democracy. In the 1990s, neoliberal economic policies broadened and deepened, including unilateral tariff reductions and the adoption of free trade agreements with a number of Latin American countries and Canada. At the same time, the decade brought increases in government expenditure on social programs to tackle poverty and poor quality housing. Throughout
23322-445: The society believed had produced the Great Depression. Milton Friedman , wrote in his early essay "Neo-liberalism and Its Prospects" that "Neo-liberalism would accept the nineteenth-century liberal emphasis on the fundamental importance of the individual, but it would substitute for the nineteenth century goal of laissez-faire as a means to this end, the goal of the competitive order", which requires limited state intervention to "police
23491-416: The support of Parliament through his proposals to increase its powers, and he also presented his policy to Parliament a week before he submitted them to the council. He aimed to demonstrate how he thought the Community ought to be run, in the hopes of generating a wave of pro-Europeanism big enough to get past the objections of member states. However, in this it proved that, despite its past successes, Hallstein
23660-480: The system, establish conditions favorable to competition and prevent monopoly , provide a stable monetary framework , and relieve acute misery and distress." By the 1970s, neoliberal thought—including Friedman's—focused almost exclusively on market liberalization and was adamant in its opposition to nearly all forms of state interference in the economy. One of the earliest and most influential turns to neoliberal reform occurred in Chile after an economic crisis in
23829-523: The term "neoliberal" as an insult or slur used by leftists against liberals and varieties of liberalism that leftists disagree with. British journalist Will Hutton called neoliberal "an unthinking leftist insult" that "stifle[s] debate." On the other hand, many scholars believe it retains a meaningful definition. Writing in The Guardian , Stephen Metcalf posits that the publication of the 2016 IMF paper "Neoliberalism: Oversold?" helps "put to rest
23998-606: The term entered global circulation and scholarship about it has grown over the last few decades. An early use of the term in English was in 1898 by the French economist Charles Gide to describe the economic beliefs of the Italian economist Maffeo Pantaleoni , with the term néo-libéralisme previously existing in French; the term was later used by others, including the classical liberal economist Milton Friedman in his 1951 essay "Neo-Liberalism and its Prospects". In 1938 at
24167-547: The term to critique trends in Black politics, defining neoliberalism as "the general idea that society works best when the people and the institutions within it work or are shaped to work according to market principles". According to Philip Mirowski , neoliberalism views the market as the greatest information processor, superior to any human being. It is hence considered as the arbiter of truth. Adam Kotsko describes neoliberalism as political theology , as it goes beyond simply being
24336-430: The term] reduces its capacity as an analytic frame. If neoliberalism is to serve as a way of understanding the transformation of society over the last few decades, then the concept is in need of unpacking". Historian Daniel Stedman Jones has similarly said that the term "is too often used as a catch-all shorthand for the horrors associated with globalization and recurring financial crises". Several writers have criticized
24505-455: The theories of economists working with the Mont Pelerin Society , including Friedrich Hayek , Milton Friedman , Ludwig von Mises , and James M. Buchanan , along with politicians and policy-makers such as Margaret Thatcher , Ronald Reagan , and Alan Greenspan . Once the new meaning of neoliberalism became established as common usage among Spanish-speaking scholars, it diffused into the English-language study of political economy . By 1994
24674-560: The theories they had developed in the 1930s and 1940s and contributed to West Germany's reconstruction after the Second World War. Erhard was a member of the Mont Pelerin Society and in constant contact with other neoliberals. He pointed out that he is commonly classified as neoliberal and that he accepted this classification. The ordoliberal Freiburg School was more pragmatic. The German neoliberals accepted
24843-458: The treaties) and is responsible for ensuring its enforcement. The president controls the policy agenda of the commission for their term and in practice no policy can be proposed without the president's agreement. The role of the president is to lead the commission, and give direction to the Commission and the Union as a whole. The treaties state that "the Commission shall work under the political guidance of its president" (Article 219 TEC ), this
25012-568: The upper hand, and they created the European Council to discuss topical problems, yet the council was unable to keep the major projects on track such as the Common Agricultural Policy . The Community entered a period of eurosclerosis , owing to economic difficulties and disagreements on the Community budget , and by the time of the Thorn Commission the president was unable to exert his influence to any significant extent. However,
25181-408: The victorious EPP only mentioned four or five people as candidates for president. There have been plans to strengthen the European political parties for them to propose candidates for future elections. The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party indicated, in its October 2007 congress, its intention to forward a candidate for the post as part of a common campaign but failed to do so. However,
25350-457: The weakest. Second, a neo-mercantilist approach was designed to maximize European industrial output. And the third was reliance on the marketplace. His emphasis on the social dimension of Europe was and remains central to a strong narrative that became a key element of the self-identification of the European Union . The Delors presidency is considered to have been the apex of the European Commission's influence on European integration. Delors had
25519-485: The wealth earned between 1990 and 2020 was not distributed throughout the country; living standards showed disparities between the more-developed capital city of Lima and similar coastal regions while rural provinces remained impoverished. Sociologist Maritza Paredes of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru stated, "People see that all the natural resources are in the countryside but all
25688-544: The work of the commission. This has also increased the presidential style of the Commission president. With the reorganisation of leading EU posts under the Lisbon Treaty , there was some criticism of each post's vague responsibilities. Ukrainian ambassador to the EU Andriy Veselovsky praised the framework and clarified it in his own terms: The Commission president speaks as the EU's "government" while
25857-561: The working class were reduced. In 1982, Chile again experienced a severe economic recession . The cause of this is contested but most scholars believe the Latin American debt crisis —which swept nearly all of Latin America into financial crisis—was a primary cause. Some scholars argue the neoliberal policies of the Chicago boys heightened the crisis (for instance, percent GDP decrease was higher than in any other Latin American country) or even caused it; for instance, some scholars criticize
26026-648: The world's first test case for 'neoliberal' economics." The turn to neoliberal policies in Chile originated with the Chicago Boys , a select group of Chilean students who, beginning in 1955, were invited to the University of Chicago to pursue postgraduate studies in economics. They studied directly under Milton Friedman and his disciple, Arnold Harberger , and were exposed to Friedrich Hayek . Upon their return to Chile, their neoliberal policy proposals—which centered on widespread deregulation , privatization , reductions to government spending to counter high inflation, and other free-market policies —would remain largely on
26195-492: Was Walter Hallstein (see Hallstein Commission ) who started consolidating European law and began to impact on national legislation. National governments at first took little heed of his administration, with the president having to stamp the commission's authority early on. With the aid of the European Court of Justice , the commission began to be taken more seriously. In 1965, Hallstein put forward his proposals for
26364-436: Was a muddle of inconsistent aims. Despite his controversies with the German neoliberals at the Mont Pelerin Society, Ludwig von Mises stated that Erhard and Müller-Armack accomplished a great act of liberalism to restore the German economy and called this "a lesson for the US". According to different research Mises believed that the ordoliberals were hardly better than socialists. As an answer to Hans Hellwig's complaints about
26533-413: Was achieved in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty . In opposition to the strident neoliberalism of US president Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) that dominated the American political agenda, Delors promoted an alternative interpretation of capitalism that embedded it in the European social structure. He synthesized three themes. First, from the left came support for the redistribution of wealth and protection of
26702-443: Was at its worst. Although he was a little-known (outside France) finance minister and former MEP, he breathed life and hope into the EC and into the dispirited Brussels Commission. In his first term, from 1985 to 1988, he rallied Europe to the call of the single market, and when appointed to a second term he began urging Europeans toward the far more ambitious goals of economic, monetary and political union." But Delors not only turned
26871-519: Was brought under control. Between 1970 and 1985 the infant mortality rate in Chile fell from 76.1 per 1000 to 22.6 per 1000, the lowest in Latin America. Unemployment from 1980 to 1990 decreased, but remained higher than the South American average (which was stagnant). And despite public perception among Chileans that economic inequality has increased, Chile's Gini coefficient has in fact dropped from 56.2 in 1987 to 46.6 in 2017. While this
27040-470: Was chosen following a Franco-British disagreement over Claude Cheysson , Santer was a compromise after Britain vetoed Jean-Luc Dehaene , and Prodi was backed by a coalition of thirteen states against the Franco-German preference for Guy Verhofstadt . In February 2008, President Barroso admitted that despite the president having in theory as much legitimacy as heads of governments, in practice it
27209-492: Was elected the 13th president of the European Commission by the European Parliament on 16 July. Von der Leyen assumed office on 1 December 2019, following the approval of her nominated College of Commissioners by the European Parliament. The present Commission was established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957; it also replaced the High Authority and the Commission of Euratom in 1967. The commission's first president
27378-413: Was inherently social and did not need to be made so. He hoped that growing prosperity would enable the population to manage much of their social security by self-reliance and end the necessity for a widespread welfare state. By the name of Volkskapitalismus , there were some efforts to foster private savings. Although average contributions to the public old age insurance were quite small, it remained by far
27547-407: Was marked by the willingness to place humanistic and social values on par with economic efficiency. Alfred Müller-Armack coined the phrase "social market economy" to emphasize the egalitarian and humanistic bent of the idea. According to Boas and Gans-Morse, Walter Eucken stated that "social security and social justice are the greatest concerns of our time". Erhard emphasized that the market
27716-520: Was not in force in the nomination in 2004, but the centre-right EPP, which won the election, pressured for a candidate from its own ranks. In the end, the EPP candidate, José Manuel Barroso, was chosen. On the same basis, the EPP endorsed again Barroso for a second term during the 2009 European election campaign and, being largest again after that election, was able to secure his nomination by the European Council . Further criteria seen to be influencing
27885-444: Was not the case. The low voter turnout creates a problem for the president's legitimacy, with the lack of a "European political sphere", but analysts claim that if citizens were voting for a list of candidates for the post of President, turn out would be much higher than that seen in recent years. Under the Treaty of Lisbon the European Council has to take into account the results of the latest European elections and, furthermore,
28054-414: Was overconfident in his risky proposals. In reaction to Hallstein's proposals and actions, then-French president Charles de Gaulle , who was sceptical of the rising supranational power of the commission, accused Hallstein of acting as if he were a head of state . France eventually withdrew its representative from the council, triggering the notorious "empty chair crisis". Although this was resolved under
28223-571: Was presented as part of Chaban's outreach to the centre-ground and first attracted media attention to Delors personally. In 1957, Delors left the CFDT when he became a high government official to avoid conflicts of interests. In 1974, he joined the Socialist Party , with other left-wing Christians. He was one of the rare members of the party to be openly religious, thus challenging its long-standing secular tradition of laïcité . He served in
28392-463: Was synonymous with both ordoliberalism and social market economy. But over time the original term neoliberalism gradually disappeared since social market economy was a much more positive term and fit better into the Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle) mentality of the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1980s, numerous governments in Latin America adopted neoliberal policies. Chile was among
28561-495: Was the most visible and influential leader in European affairs. He implemented policies that closely linked the member nations together and promoted the need for unity . He created a single market that made the free movement of persons , capital, goods, and services within the European Economic Community (EEC) possible. He also headed the Delors Committee , which proposed the monetary union to create
#220779