The Liberal New Right adheres to libertarianism; the idea of upholding liberty and seeking to maximise autonomy and free choice of the individual (mainly economical)
Reflecting back on free-market thinking alongside classic liberalism; addresses the case for minimal state
Reminder of the popular statement 'private, good; public, bad'
Anti-statist (the state restricts and coerces):
- The state restricts individual initiative
- Faith should be in the individual and the market; self-reliance and rational choices are what people are capable of
- The market acts as a mechanism through which the sum of all individual choices will lead to progress
The Liberal New Right revived the economic ideology of Smith, Ricardo, Hayek, Nozick
- The market acts as the foundation of the economy, balancing the supply of good and services in relation to their demand
- Reacting to unemployment in the 1970s, neoliberals argued the government was the cause of economic problems and not the cure
Inflation is a huge threat to the economy as people lose faith in currency and commit to less economic activity
- The solution to inflation lies in the control of the supply of money e.g. cutting public spending like Reagan and Thatcher
New Liberals are opposed to mixed economy and public ownership; industries should be private and nationalisation is overall inefficient
The government should encourage economic growth by developing conditions motivating producers to produce (e.g. having low taxes)
New Liberals are also committed to individual liberty
- Remove external restraints of the individual e.g. the state and welfare
- Welfare state = 'culture of dependency'
- Nozick blamed welfare policies and redistribution as violations of property rights