Neo-liberalism and the Changing Role of the State: A Critical Analysis

Neo-liberalism and
the changing role
of the state

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Summary of academic literature.........................................................................................3
Summary of news articles....................................................................................................4
Relevance of news articles to the academic literature.......................................................5
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES...............................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
When it comes to political landscape in the current times there are many ideologies which
are followed by people and government residing in varied locations and there are many schools
of economic thought which influence the way authorities run the affairs of the country. Out of all
these ideas and philosophies, neo-liberalism is one of the trendiest terms being thrown around by
both scholars and the people of established republics and it is also highly debated and
controversial in nature (Gill and Kanai, 2019). Neo-liberalism refers to the school of thought
which champions the uncontested ruling of private sector in the economic affairs of a country
with focus on functions such as economic liberalization, privatization and free trade and its main
belief is that by allowing markets to run freely without interference from government, economic
growth can be achieved with great efficiency (Collins and Rothe, 2019). This report will
highlight the current developments in the field of neo-liberalism and changing role of state with
reference to news articles published from recognized sources.
MAIN BODY
Summary of academic literature
According to the opinion of Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins (2022), neo-liberalism has seen
unreal downfall as during the 1950's and 60's, there was a growing wave which encapsulated
major entrepreneurs and politicians as the promise of a free market came across as very lucrative
but decades later, it has all come crumbling down and after the 2008 financial crisis, neo-
liberalism has been getting the blame for it all. In a conversation with historian, Gary Gerstle,
Gary states that instead of looking at neo-liberalism as a political ideology, it should be instead
be treated as a world view there economic opportunity is combined with market freedom which
makes the roots of the political ideology both left and right wing oriented (Has Neoliberalism
Really Come to an End?, 2022).
According to the opinion of Lakeisha Watkins (2022), throughout the COVID-19
pandemic, there has been a shameless display by the Australian government as it has displayed a
complete neo-liberal behaviour by prioritizing the recovery and strengthening of the Australian
economy over the lives of its own people. The government of Australia has failed to protect the
people of the country from the deadly virus as the healthcare sector has been neglected to an