The Politics of Free Markets: The Rise of Neoliberal Economic Policies in Britain, France, Germany, and the United States

The attempt to reduce the role of the state in the market through tax cuts, decreases in social spending, deregulation, and privatization—“neoliberalism”—took root in the United States under Ronald Reagan and in Britain under Margaret Thatcher. But why did neoliberal policies gain such prominence in these two countries and not in similarly industrialized Western countries such as France and Germany?

In The Politics of Free Markets, a comparative-historical analysis of the development of neol...