An absolutely fantastic one sentence summation of post-Reagan neoliberalism from an old-ish article that I just now got around to reading (circa debt ceiling debate, thank god for instapaper):
Nothing more accurately illustrates the contradictory movements of the neoliberal project than the biography of the fundamentalist son of an American-owned autocrat, who spent millions of American dollars expelling the Soviets from Afghanistan, then bankrolled and organized September 11th, then was assassinated by the US and dumped into the ocean.
The whole thing is a fantastic read, and is even more prescient just a few months down the road with the OWS protests in full swing. While we’re making this a link post, I’d also like to recommend Nick Srnicek’s piece from The Disorder of Things Blog on Economics and the Left. I’m a firm believer in the absolute need for the philosophically-minded to be immersed in the hitherto silent debate over economics and political strategy. This is what we need to be talking about: a return to the critique of political economy.
More Links
– DeLong on the absurdity of blaming the continued recession on uncertainty involving investor’s expectations.
– TP’s primer on the basics of inequality.
– The math behind government spending in a recession.
Sub Specie Aeterni 