Chicago economists and neoconservatives united to oppose welfare, especially to single mothers

Evidence

In a similar vein, Melinda Cooper uses the term ‘the moral crisis of inflation’ to describe the ways in which Chicago School economists and neoconservatives in the United States united in opposition to social welfare, and especially welfare to single mothers. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 991

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces Cooper’s useful concept ‘the moral crisis of inflation’ — the fusion of economic and neoconservative moral critiques of welfare.
• XREF: Relates to the reader’s note in the chapter body about inflation’s moral-political function uniting strange bedfellows — a connection point to the mainstream austerity literature. — connects to: Chicago School economists blamed the welfare state, not feminism, for family breakdown — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 210; Neoliberals attacked welfare as a threat to family, race, and dignity — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 178; Neoliberals opposed welfare for inflation fear, not moral reasons — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 228
• QUESTION: Worth pulling the Cooper book to see how the anti-welfare union played out after the 1970s — does the alliance persist under modern inflation-targeting regimes?

Broader Connections

• Neoliberals attacked welfare as a threat to family, race, and dignity #corroborates (0.85) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 178
• Neoliberals opposed welfare for inflation fear, not moral reasons #qualifies (0.80) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 228