Market liberalism lost ground because it was cast as status-quo defense

Evidence

“Liberalism is in a curious position, and on the downgrade,” he told them in a preliminary discussion of the society’s statement of aims. “It is at times used as a defence of the status quo, instead of being dynamic and progressive. We want to make sure that our manifesto is concerned in the progress of man’s welfare. We have to distinguish between the negative and the positive approach. Broad statements on which we can very easily agree are negative in nature. We ought to agree on the necessity for a positive approach.” — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 491

Categorization

• DEFINE: Friedman’s negative-versus-positive approach to liberal rhetoric is a useful conceptual distinction for understanding subsequent neoliberal messaging.
• XREF: connects to: Free-market economists saw themselves as doomed defenders of a dying creed. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 41; Market advocates failed by criticizing reform without articulating their own positive vision — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 85