Last summer, researchers at the International Monetary Fund settled a long and bitter debate over “neoliberalism”: they admitted it exists. Three senior economists at the IMF, an organisation not known for its incaution, published a paper questioning the benefits of neoliberalism. Hayek built into neoliberalism the assumption that the market provides all necessary protection against the one real political danger: totalitarianism. He replied: “She’s so beautiful.”Hayek’s Big Idea isn’t much of an idea – until you supersize it. But the application of Hayek’s Big Idea to every aspect of our lives negates what is most distinctive about us.

Source: The Guardian August 18, 2017 04:52 UTC