Summary: Noah Smith discusses Matt Yglesias’ views on neoliberalism, arguing that its impact on U.S. policy has been misunderstood. He suggests that while some policies changed, the overall economic thinking remained focused on limiting government intervention. Smith believes this mindset led to missed opportunities for effective policies that could have addressed issues like inequality and industrial growth.
Neoliberalism was more important as an organizing principle than as a set of policies (View Highlight)
to gauge the true impact of neoliberalism on policy, you have to look at the proverbial dog that didn’t bark — you have to think about what didn’t get done, rather than just what did get done. (View Highlight)