Market fundamentalism, also known as free-market fundamentalism, is an ideology[1] and a term applied to a strong belief in the ability of unregulated laissez-faire or free-market capitalist policies to solve most economic and social problems.[2] It is often used as pejorative by critics of said beliefs.[3]

Origins and use

Palagummi Sainath believes Jeremy Seabrook, a journalist and campaigner, first used the term.[4] The term was used by Jonathan Benthall in an Anthropology Today editorial in 1991[5] and by John Langmore and John Quiggin in their 1994 book Work for All.[6]

According to economist John Quiggin, the standard features of economic fundamentalist rhetoric are dogmatic assertions combined with the claim that anyone who holds contrary views is not a real economist.[7] However, Kozul-Wright states in his book The Resistible Rise of Market Fundamentalism that the "ineluctability of market forces" neoliberals and conservative politicians tend to stress and their confidence on a chosen policy rest on a "mixture of implicit and hidden assumptions, myths about the history of their own countries' economic development, and special interests camouflaged in their rhetoric of general good".[8] The sociologists Fred L. Block and Margaret Somers use the label "because the term conveys the quasi-religious certainty expressed by contemporary advocates of market self-regulation".[9]

Joseph Stiglitz used the term in his autobiographical essay in acceptance of Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences to criticize some International Monetary Fund policies, arguing: "More broadly, the IMF was advocating a set of policies which is generally referred to alternatively as the Washington consensus, the neo-liberal doctrines, or market fundamentalism, based on an incorrect understanding of economic theory and (what I viewed) as an inadequate interpretation of the historical data".[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ghodsee, Kristen R. (8 November 2024). "The other Great Depression," (PDF). Le Monde diplomatique. Scholars at Harvard. p. 2. Despite the social carnage, those committed to the free market fundamentalist ideology persisted with their shortsighted policies.
  2. 1 2 "Block, Fred. Market Fundamentalism, Longview Institute". Archived from the original on 2017-07-15. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  3. ↑ market fundemmentalism, UNESCWA
  4. ↑ "Sainath, P. And then there was the market". Archived from the original on 2023-02-10. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
  5. ↑ Benthall, Jonathan, "Inside information on 'the market'", Anthropology Today, 7.4, August 1991, pp.1–2.
  6. ↑ Quiggin, John (March 1995). "Work For All". Journal of Industrial Relations. 37 (1): 186–187. doi:10.1177/002218569503700119. S2CID 153866541. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  7. ↑ Quiggin, John. Rationalism and Rationality in Economics, 1999, On Line Opinion, www.onlineopinion.com.au
  8. ↑ Kozul-Wright, Richard and Rayment, Paul. The Resistible Rise of Market Fundamentalism: Rethinking Development Policy in an Unbalanced World. London: Zed Books Ltd., 2007 p. 14 and Chapter 6
  9. ↑ Fred Block and Margaret R. Somers. The Power of Market Fundamentalism: Karl Polanyi's Critique Archived 2021-04-29 at the Wayback Machine. Harvard University Press, 2014. ISBN 0674050711. p. 3. Archived 2023-04-15 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ Autobiographical essay in acceptance of the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel
  11. ↑ "Stiglitz, Joseph E. The pact with the devil. Beppe Grillo's Friends interview". Archived from the original on 2015-01-24. Retrieved 2013-10-29.
  12. ↑ "Block, Fred. Reframing the Political Battle: Market Fundamentalism vs. Moral Economy, Longview Institute". Archived from the original on 2017-11-24. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
  13. ↑ "Bidstrup, Scott. Free Market Fundamentalism: Friedman, Pinochet and the "Chilean Miracle", Revised 10/15/02". Archived from the original on 2009-01-30. Retrieved 2007-06-10.
  14. ↑ "Beams, Nick. Soros warns of "market fundamentalism". WSWS : News & Analysis : World Economy 22 December 1998". 22 December 1998. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  15. ↑ Stiglitz, Joseph. Redefining the Role of the State - What should it do ? How should it do it ? And how should these decisions be made? Paper presented at the Tenth Anniversary of MITI Research Institute, Tokyo, March 1998. Archived 2008-05-29 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ↑ Soros, George, "The worst market crisis in 60 years. Archived 2015-07-03 at the Wayback Machine" Financial Times, January 22, 2008 19:57
  17. ↑ Edward Baptist (September 7, 2014). What the Economist Doesn't Get About Slavery—And My Book Archived 2023-01-20 at the Wayback Machine. Politico. Retrieved May 23, 2015.

Bibliography and further reading

  • Albers, Detlev; Haeler, Stephen; Meyer, Henning, eds. (23 June 2006). Social Europe: A Continent's Answer to Market Fundamentalism. London: European Research Forum at London Metropolitan University. ISBN 978-0-9547448-3-0.
  • Camerer, C. (1995): Individual Decision Making, in: Kagel, J.H. & Roth, A.E. (Eds.): Handbook of Experimental Economics, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 587–703. ISBN 978-0-691-05897-9
  • Cox, Harvey (2016). The Market as God. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674659681
  • French-Davis, Ricardo. Reforming Latin America's Economies: After Market Fundamentalism. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. ISBN 1-4039-4945-X ISBN 978-1403949455
  • Kelsey, Jane (1995). A Review of Economic Fundamentalism: The New Zealand Experiment - A World Model for Structural Adjustment?. Pluto Press. ISBN 1-86940-130-1
  • Kozul-Wright, Richard. The Resistible Rise of Market Fundamentalism: The Struggle for Economic Development in a Global Economy. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), London: ZedBooks Ltd., 2007. ISBN 978-1-84277-636-0 ISBN 9781842776377
  • Ritzer, George, ed. (2003). The Blackwell Companion to Major Social Theorists. Blackwell Companions to Sociology. Blackwell publishing. ISBN 978-0-631-20710-8.
  • Soros, George (1998). The Crisis of Global Capitalism: The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Open Society Endangered. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 9781891620270. ISBN 978-1-891620-27-0
  • Soros, George (2008). The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What It Means. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1-58648-683-9.
  • Sunder, S (1995). "Experimental Asset Markets: A Survey". In Kagel, J.H.; Roth, A.E. (eds.). Handbook of Experimental Economics. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp. 445–500. ISBN 978-0-691-05897-9
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_fundamentalism