Occasional Papers
Neoliberalism: The Genesis of a Political Swearword
Neoliberalism is one of the most commonly used words in political debates. Despite this, the origins of neoliberalism are hardly known. Nor does there appear to be a generally accepted definition of the term.
The original inventors of the word 'neoliberalism' had something completely different in mind. Their philosophy was a reasiong to the Great Depression of the 1930s. As such it was meant to show a 'Third way' between capitalism and socialism. Today's critics of neoliberalism have more in common with neoliberalism than they may think.
