Can the West Break Free from the Neoliberal Crisis?

Since the 1970s, neoliberalism has long dominated economic policy in the United States and influenced the international order. In recent years, however, it has faced multiple challenges due to social, economic, and political transformations. Reflection on neoliberalism cannot be confined solely to a re-examination of the Western political and economic system; rather, it must comprehensively consider the ideological and political order changes reflected behind it.

20世纪70年代以来，新自由主义在美国长期主导经济政策并影响着国际秩序，近年来却因社会、经济、政治变革面临多重挑战。关于新自由主义的反思，不能只局限于对西方政治经济体系的重新审视，而是要统筹考虑其背后所反映出的意识形态和政治秩序变迁。

Whether the West can break free from the neoliberal crisis, reconstruct the international order, and maintain its dominant position constitutes a focal point of meaningful debate. Resolving this issue cannot ignore the crises neoliberalism faces in three major areas: the economy, society, and politics.

西方能否摆脱新自由主义危机，重构国际秩序并维护其主导地位，这构成一个有意义争论的焦点。解决此问题，不能忽视新自由主义在经济、社会和政治三大领域面临的危机。

The Crisis of the Free Market

自由市场危机

Traditional neoliberalism firmly believes in the market’s self-regulation and its efficient resolution of various problems. However, the outbreak of the financial crisis undoubtedly revealed that the market does not always achieve equilibrium on its own. Facts have proven that a managed market is fairer and more efficient. Neoliberalism advocates for financial deregulation, with financial capital dominating economic thinking. Capitalists, no longer subject to strict constraints, began a frenzied pursuit of profit. Capital became increasingly speculative, with large amounts of surplus capital flooding into the financial sector. Various innovative financial instruments emerged, using financial tools to rapidly inflate assets, hollow out the real economy, and accelerate deindustrialization, resulting in severe economic virtualization. At the same time, the push for financial deregulation enabled financial institutions to influence government decision-making, significantly increasing the potential for capital speculation, causing a surge in liquidity, and exacerbating volatility in stock and real estate markets.

传统新自由主义笃信市场自我调节及高效解决各类问题，然而，金融危机的爆发无疑揭示了市场并非总能自行实现平衡。事实证明，受管理的市场更加公平、高效。新自由主义宣扬放松金融管制，金融资本主导经济思路，不再受到严格约束的资本家开始了对利润的疯狂追求。资本变得越来越投机，大量剩余资本开始涌入金融部门，各种金融创新工具层出不穷，运用金融工具使资产迅速膨胀，掏空实体产业，去工业化提速，致使经济虚拟化严重。同时，推动放松金融管制，使金融机构能够影响政府决策，显著增加了资本投机的可能性，造成流动性大增，加剧股票和房地产市场的波动。

Issues such as capital speculation and financial bubbles exposed the drawbacks of insufficient market regulation. Compounded by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. “Misery Index,” composed of inflation and unemployment rates, hit a historic high. The real median income of full-time male workers in the United States is lower than it was 40 years ago, and the income of the bottom 90% of the population has stagnated for over 30 years. Racial conflicts within the United States have intensified, with riots and protests erupting in various places. This has led people to re-examine the spontaneity and effectiveness of the market, prompting a deeper reflection and evaluation of neoliberalism.

资本投机和金融泡沫等问题暴露了市场监管不足的弊端，特别是叠加新冠疫情影响，美国由通货膨胀率和失业率组成的“痛苦指数”创历史新高。美国全职男性工人实际收入中位数低于40年前，底层90%人口收入已经停滞30多年。美国内部种族冲突加剧，各地爆发骚乱和抗议活动。这让人们重新审视市场的自发性和有效性，对新自由主义进行更为深刻的反思和评价。

The Crisis of Social Values

社会价值危机

The “freedom” advocated by neoliberalism is often considered deceptive because, in practice, it tends to make a few people wealthy while harming the interests of the majority. Neoliberalism is not genuine freedom; rather, it is the freedom of capital owners to formulate and enforce rules that benefit themselves. However, this “freedom” often exacerbates the tilt of wealth and resources toward the rich and large corporations. The United States has an excessive number of billionaires, whose wealth far exceeds that of the bottom population. Extreme wealth inequality has intensified social divisions and sparked waves of protest. From the “Occupy Wall Street” movement that began in 2011 to the “war” between retail investors in the U.S. stock market in early 2021, these events all reflect the growing public discontent with the upper echelons of society dominated by U.S. financial capital, as well as strong anger over the unequal distribution of social wealth. This has also led to rising voices opposing neoliberalism. The public has come to realize that the practice of neoliberalism results in high housing prices, low wages, excessive educational burdens, lagging infrastructure, insufficient medical services, and neglect of fairness and public interests, exacerbating the uneven distribution of resources. Social media has also accelerated the spread of anti-neoliberal voices, further highlighting concerns about a moral crisis and calling for a more just economic order.

新自由主义宣扬的“自由”常常被认为具有欺骗性，因为在实践中往往会导致少数人变得富裕，而大多数人利益受到损害。新自由主义并非真正的自由，而是资本所有者制定并执行有利于自己规则的自由。然而，这种“自由”往往加剧了财富和资源向富人和大企业倾斜。美国拥有过多的亿万富翁，持有财富远超底层人口。极端的财富不平等加剧了社会撕裂，引发了抗议浪潮。从始于2011年的“占领华尔街”运动到2021年初美国股市散户之间的“战争”，都反映出公众对美国金融资本主导的上层社会愈发不满，以及对社会财富分配不平等的强烈愤怒。这也使得反对新自由主义的声音日益高涨，公众意识到新自由主义的实践导致高房价、低工资、教育负担过重、基础设施滞后、医疗服务不足以及忽视公平和公共利益，加剧资源分配不均的问题。社交媒体也加速了反新自由主义声音的传播，进一步凸显了对道德危机的担忧，呼吁更公正的经济秩序。

The Crisis of Political Consensus

政治共识危机

Neoliberal ideology also faces numerous challenges politically. Political polarization in the United States is becoming increasingly severe, with the Republican and Democratic parties holding divergent views on many issues, often leading to congressional gridlock. Political consensus between the parties has collapsed, political divisions and antagonisms are deepening, and the public holds opposing perceptions regarding “values” and “paths of social development.” Left-wing political factions typically criticize neoliberalism for favoring interest groups and neglecting social fairness and power inequality. At the same time, right-wing political factions also accuse neoliberalism of promoting internationalism and globalization, advocating for more protectionist policies to safeguard national interests. Under the influence of the receding wave of globalization and protectionism, neoliberalism has been impacted by deglobalization, with the process of global economic and political integration facing more opposition and restrictions. The rupture of neoliberal hegemony has brought new voices to politics. In the economic and political spheres, the opposition between winners and losers has become increasingly pronounced, triggering the political discontent currently sweeping the West and undermining citizens’ trust in democratic institutions. A more profound issue is that skepticism toward democratic systems is rising within Western societies.

新自由主义思潮在政治上也面临诸多挑战。美国政治极化现象日益严重，共和党和民主党在众多议题上存在分歧，导致国会常常陷入僵局。党派之间的政治共识瓦解，政治分歧和对立日益加深，民众在“价值观”和“社会发展道路”上呈现对立认知。左翼政治派别通常批评新自由主义偏向于服务利益集团，忽视社会公平和权力的不平等问题。同时，右翼政治派别也指责新自由主义推崇国际主义和全球化，主张更多保护主义政策以维护国家利益。新自由主义在逐步退却的全球化浪潮和保护主义的影响下受到逆全球化的冲击，全球经济和政治的一体化进程面临着更多反对和限制。新自由主义霸权的破裂为政治带来了新的声音。在经济和政治领域，赢家和失败者之间的对立愈发显著，引发目前席卷西方的政治不满情绪，损害了公民对民主体制的信任。更深远的问题在于，西方社会对于民主体制的怀疑情绪正在上升。

Breaking Free from the Neoliberal Crisis Is No Easy Task

摆脱新自由主义危机并非易事

Overturning the political ideology of neoliberalism requires concrete policy actions to demonstrate that the government is often fairer and more efficient than the market in serving citizens. In April 2023, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, in a speech at the Brookings Institution, elaborated in detail on the “New Washington Consensus” centered on industrial policy. This new set of global economic policy principles effectively declared the end of the era of U.S. neoliberal foreign policy, steering global economic governance toward a new direction of state developmentalism.

推翻新自由主义的政治观念需要实际政策行动，证明政府在服务公民方面往往比市场更公平高效。2023年4月，美国总统国家安全事务助理沙利文在布鲁金斯学会的演讲中详细阐述了以产业政策为核心的“新华盛顿共识”。这一新的全球经济政策原则实际上宣布了美国的新自由主义外交政策时代已经结束，将引领全球经济治理转向国家发展主义的新方向。

Internally, the U.S. government has taken multi-pronged actions in an attempt to rebuild its global hegemonic position. The failure of neoliberalism not only provides arguments for a more regulated form of capitalism but also offers support for direct public alternatives. At the current stage, the U.S. government is attempting to resolve long-accumulated economic and social inequalities through large-scale expansions of social welfare and public investment; it is promoting reform plans covering a wide range of areas to address weaknesses in health, education, infrastructure, and other fields. Regarding industrial policy, the government will intervene more actively in the market, moving closer to traditional mercantilist thinking. This means that the U.S. government will place greater emphasis on state-guided industrial development, supporting its domestic technology industries through national investment, enhancing supply chain resilience to reduce economic dependence on potential competitors; it is committed to promoting green technological innovation to better address the intensifying climate crisis; and it will strengthen the protection of labor rights, raise the minimum wage, and encourage the development of trade unions. These are all beneficial compensations for the issues of workers’ rights that neoliberal policies have neglected.

从内部来看，美国政府已采取多管齐下的行动，试图重建美国的世界霸权地位。新自由主义的失败不仅为更规范的资本主义提供了论据，还为直接的公共替代方案提供了支持。现阶段，美国政府通过大规模的社会福利和公共投资扩张，试图化解长期积累的经济和社会不平等；推动覆盖广泛领域的改革计划，以应对卫生、教育、基础设施等领域的薄弱环节。对于产业政策而言，政府将更为积极地介入市场，更接近于传统的重商主义思想。这意味着，美国政府将更加强调国家引导的产业发展，通过国家投资支持本国科技产业，增强供应链韧性，以减少对潜在竞争对手的经济依赖；致力于推动绿色技术创新，以更好地应对不断加剧的气候危机；加强对劳工权益的保护，提高最低工资标准，鼓励工会组织发展。这些都是对新自由主义政策所忽视的工人权益问题的有益补偿。

From the perspective of the global order, the U.S. government is attempting to reconstruct the international economic order, replacing the “Old Washington Consensus” based on neoliberalism with the “New Washington Consensus.” This will involve adjustments in multiple areas. First, the global economic order may undergo fundamental changes. The neoliberal crisis within the United States, along with similar adjustments in other countries, will lead to a reshaping of the global economic order. An increasing number of countries are inclined to adopt more active state intervention measures, leading to a diversification of global economic policies while also intensifying international economic competition and conflict. Second, international cooperation faces new challenges. For a long time, neoliberalism has played a dominant role in international economic cooperation, driving the process of globalization. However, the “New Washington Consensus” introduced by the U.S. government may overturn the previously upheld free trade system, abandoning traditional “neoliberal” trade policies and shifting toward more protectionist and domestically oriented measures. This shift has formed an “iron curtain” particularly in high-tech trade, posing challenges to international cooperation and making the resolution of global issues such as climate change even more difficult. Finally, major transformations in the international political landscape are quietly unfolding. Over the past few decades, the United States has been the dominant force in the neoliberal order. Today, the rise of developing countries signifies a redistribution of power and a redefinition of models for international cooperation.

从全球秩序来看，美国政府试图重构国际经济秩序，以“新华盛顿共识”取代以新自由主义为基础的“旧华盛顿共识”，这将涉及多方面的调整。首先，全球经济秩序可能会经历根本性的变革。美国内部的新自由主义危机，以及其他国家的类似调整，将导致全球经济秩序重塑。越来越多的国家倾向于采取更积极的国家干预措施，从而引发全球经济政策的多样化，同时也加剧国际经济竞争和冲突。其次，国际合作面临新的挑战。长期以来，新自由主义在国际经济合作中起着主导作用，推动全球化进程。然而，美国政府推出的“新华盛顿共识”或将颠覆先前所奉行的自由贸易体制，抛弃传统的“新自由主义”贸易政策，从而转向更具保护主义倾向和国内导向的措施。这种转变尤其在高科技贸易方面形成了一道“铁幕”，给国际合作带来挑战，且让气候变化等全球性问题的解决变得更加棘手。最后，国际政治格局的重大变革正在悄然展开。过去几十年，美国一直是新自由主义秩序的主导者，如今，发展中国家的崛起意味着力量的重新分配和对国际合作模式的重新定义。

In the long river of history, the surge of Western political thought is often closely linked to the eruption of specific social crises. The multi-layered economic, social, and political crises experienced by neoliberalism have exposed its predicament as a dominant ideology and economic model. This indicates that political thought that claims to be “universal values” inevitably faces crises amid constantly changing social practice, and the shaping of the ideology and political order behind it is fraught with uncertainty. Neoliberalism must necessarily undergo profound change and adjustment. Whether the West can escape the neoliberal crisis is not merely a re-examination of the Western political and economic system, but also a repositioning of Western values within a continuously evolving social order.

在历史长河中，西方政治思潮的涌动往往与特定社会危机的迸发紧密相连。新自由主义所经历的经济、社会和政治多层面的危机暴露出其作为主导意识形态和经济模式的困境。这表明，自诩为“普世价值”的政治思潮在不断变化的社会实践中不可避免地面临危机，其背后的意识形态和政治秩序塑造充满了不确定性。新自由主义必然需要进行深刻的改变和调整。西方能否摆脱新自由主义危机，这不仅仅是对西方政治经济体系的重新审视，更是对西方价值观念在持续演变的社会秩序中的重新定位。

Online editor: Paul

网络编辑：保罗