Profit Over People: Neoliberalism and Global Order, Noam Chomsky, Seven Stories Press, 1999
Neoliberalism, a much used term these days, is a set of economic principles designed by the US and imposed on the rest of the world through the various international financial agencies that the US dominates. The intention is to make it as easy as possible for the big transnational corporations, usually based in America, to maximize their profits, no matter what, and deal with any country that doesn't go along (Chile under Salvador Allende). In the US, after years of corporate PR, neoliberalism has acquired the aura of a Sacred Thing which must not be questioned.
In this latest collection, Chomsky doesn't stop there. While the media and the Clinton Administration proclaim the US as a model for the world, according to UNICEF, the US has the worst record among the major industrial countries in areas like mortality of children under 5 years old. While the Reagan Administration extolled the glories of the free market, it boasted about having given US business more import relief than all its predecessors combined; market discipline for you, but not for me.
This is another fascinating and very well done look at the way the world really works. Don't miss it.
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