Neoliberalism differs from laissez-faire liberalism by using state intervention to create competition

Evidence

Another difference, underscored by Foucault, is that in neoliberal reason, competition replaces exchange as the market’s root principle and basic good. (As we will see in Chapter 2, Foucault also argues that neoliberal reason formulates competition as normative, rather than natural, and thus requires facilitation and legal support.) This subtle shift from exchange to competition as the essence of the market means that all market actors are rendered as little capitals (rather than as owners, workers, and consumers) competing with, rather than exchanging with each other. Human capital’s constant and ubiquitous aim, whether studying, interning, working, planning retirement, or reinventing itself in a new life, is to entrepreneurialize its endeavors, appreciate its value, and increase its rating or ranking. — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 59 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Carl J. Freidrich, “The Political Thought of Neo-Liberalism” American Political Science Review 49, 2 (1955): 511. A contemporary example of achievement versus impediment competition is to compare the competition on products that occurs between BMW and Mercedes. This competition betters both products such that both firms sell more cars. Now, compare this to the patent battles between Apple and Samsung, which is impediment competition. It is designed to keep the other firm out of the marketplace regardless of the quality of the product. — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 899 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Postwar liberal revivalists framed state intervention as a neutral arbiter protecting market rules — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 194; Neoliberalism rejects laissez-faire in favor of perpetual constructionist state intervention — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 148; Neoliberalism seeks a strong state that thwarts democracy, not a weak one — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 155 (+23 more)

Related

• Neoliberalism differs from laissez-faire by making competition its core principle (similarity 0.92)
• Early neoliberalism distinguished itself from laissez-faire by championing competition. (similarity 0.90)
• Neoliberalism makes competition rather than exchange the essence of the market (similarity 0.89)
• Neoliberalism requires active state intervention to build competitive order, unlike laissez-faire. (similarity 0.89)
• Neoliberalism distinguishes achievement competition from impediment competition where rivals block market access. (similarity 0.88)
• Neoliberal competition is a constructed formal game, not a natural state. (similarity 0.86)
• Neoliberalism endorses wide state action to construct markets, not laissez-faire. (similarity 0.85)
• Neoliberalism subordinates the state to capital rather than freeing markets (similarity 0.84)
• Neoliberalism activates the state for the economy rather than withdrawing it. (similarity 0.84)
• Neoliberalism rejects laissez-faire in favor of perpetual constructionist state intervention (similarity 0.84)
• Neoliberalism is an interventionist flexible policy approach, not a laissez-faire orthodoxy (similarity 0.84)
• Early neoliberalism rejected laissez-faire in favor of a state-built competitive order. (similarity 0.83)
• Competition-state doctrine causally enabled right-wing populism (similarity 0.82)
• Milton Friedman’s 1951 manifesto defined neoliberalism as a competitive order requiring an active state. (similarity 0.82)
• The neoliberal state governs for the market, not because of it. (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberalism makes competition rather than exchange the essence of the market #corroborates (0.90) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 59
• Early neoliberals rejected laissez-faire and wanted strong state action #corroborates (0.90)
• Neoliberals rejected the pure state-versus-market binary as a false dichotomy #expands (0.85) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 9
• Neoliberalism distinguishes achievement competition from impediment competition where rivals block market access. #expands (0.85) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 899
• Neoliberalism advanced a political, not merely economic, case for the competitive market #expands (0.80) — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 34