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This book about neoliberalism blew my mind. A very ‘know thy enemy’ book about a little discussed form of neoliberalism: exit neoliberalism and anarcho-capitalism.
If you’ve looked at Brexit, tariffs, Peter Thiel, Dubai, or Prospera and thought: WHAT IS HAPPENING?! Then this book is for you. Because this new form of neoliberalism is so counterintuitive. Old school neoliberalism is about protecting capital from us plebs through privatization, international organizations (World Bank, IMF, etc), free trade, and globalization. We associate it with the late 20th century rightwing (Thatcher and Reagan) but it’s become the consensus of most centrist (centre-left and centre-right) politics in almost every country.
And on the far right? There’s a new game in town: exit. Literally, swapping Milton Friedman for his son, David Friedman. Regulations that protect workers, the environment, or food safety cutting into your profits? Exit. Want to re-introduce slavery as extremely precarious workers? Exit. Do some illegal medical testing? Exit. Want to integrate crypto into your monetary policy? Exit.
Enter the Special Economic Zone (SEZ), free ports, charter cities, and the dream of the “network state.” Something that looks, on the surface, like the complete opposite of globalization. But in reality, it has the same old neoliberal motivation: privatizing the wealth, externalizing the harms of capitalism, and protecting the capital of the extremely wealthy from being curtailed by democratic laws. Aka, protecting billionaires from us.
Annddd of course, this neoliberalism is gaining ground. Milei in Argentina, Trump in the US, Reform in the UK or the AfD in Germany… Dang it
This intellectual history was well-written and engaging. I thought it was especially poignant that the book begins and ends with Hong Kong. I learned a lot!
If you’ve looked at Brexit, tariffs, Peter Thiel, Dubai, or Prospera and thought: WHAT IS HAPPENING?! Then this book is for you. Because this new form of neoliberalism is so counterintuitive. Old school neoliberalism is about protecting capital from us plebs through privatization, international organizations (World Bank, IMF, etc), free trade, and globalization. We associate it with the late 20th century rightwing (Thatcher and Reagan) but it’s become the consensus of most centrist (centre-left and centre-right) politics in almost every country.
And on the far right? There’s a new game in town: exit. Literally, swapping Milton Friedman for his son, David Friedman. Regulations that protect workers, the environment, or food safety cutting into your profits? Exit. Want to re-introduce slavery as extremely precarious workers? Exit. Do some illegal medical testing? Exit. Want to integrate crypto into your monetary policy? Exit.
Enter the Special Economic Zone (SEZ), free ports, charter cities, and the dream of the “network state.” Something that looks, on the surface, like the complete opposite of globalization. But in reality, it has the same old neoliberal motivation: privatizing the wealth, externalizing the harms of capitalism, and protecting the capital of the extremely wealthy from being curtailed by democratic laws. Aka, protecting billionaires from us.
Annddd of course, this neoliberalism is gaining ground. Milei in Argentina, Trump in the US, Reform in the UK or the AfD in Germany… Dang it
This intellectual history was well-written and engaging. I thought it was especially poignant that the book begins and ends with Hong Kong. I learned a lot!