Navarro V
Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205-1901, USA.
Int J Health Serv. 1998;28(4):607-82. doi: 10.2190/Y3X7-RG7E-6626-FVPT.
This analysis of "neoliberalism" and its economic and social consequences is presented in six sections. Section I begins by describing the impact of neoliberal public policies on economic growth and inflation, on business profits and business investments, on productivity, on business credit, on unemployment and social inequalities, on social expenditures, and on poverty and family debt. The author shows that, except in the area of business profits and control of inflation, neoliberal policies have not proved superior to those they replaced. Section II deals with unemployment and social polarization in the developed capitalist countries. The author criticizes some of the theories put forward to explain these social problems, such as the introduction of new technologies and globalization of the economy, and suggests that a primary reason for these problems is the implementation of neoliberal policies. Section III challenges the widely held neoliberal perception that the U.S. economy is highly efficient and the E.U. economies are "sclerotic" due to their "excessive" welfare states and "rigid" labor markets. The author shows that the U.S. economy is not so dynamic, nor the E.U. economies so sclerotic. Some developed countries with greater social protection and more regulated labor markets are shown to be more successful than the United States in producing jobs and lowering unemployment. The reasons for the growing polarization in developed capitalist countries, rooted in political rather than economic causes, are discussed in section IV--especially the enormous power of the financial markets and their influence on international agencies and national governments, and the weakness of the labor movements, both nationally and internationally. Section V questions the major theses of globalization. The author shows that rather than globalization of commerce and investments, we are witnessing a regionalization of economic relations stimulated by political considerations. He also analyzes the globalization of capital finance, criticizing the thesis that capital markets are determining public policies. The economic determinism that underlies the globalization position is questioned, uncovering the importance of political explanations for understanding major social problems such as unemployment. Finally, section VI shows that neoliberal public policies on the deregulation of labor markets are creating enormous instability in the labor force, worsening the living conditions of the majority of the populations.
对“新自由主义”及其经济和社会后果的这一分析分为六个部分。第一部分首先描述新自由主义公共政策对经济增长和通货膨胀、对商业利润和商业投资、对生产力、对商业信贷、对失业和社会不平等、对社会支出以及对贫困和家庭债务的影响。作者表明，除了在商业利润和控制通货膨胀领域外，新自由主义政策并未被证明优于它们所取代的政策。第二部分论述发达资本主义国家的失业和社会两极分化。作者批评了一些为解释这些社会问题而提出的理论，如新技术的引入和经济全球化，并指出这些问题的一个主要原因是新自由主义政策的实施。第三部分对一种广泛存在的新自由主义观点提出质疑，即认为美国经济高效，而欧盟经济因“过度”的福利国家和“僵化”的劳动力市场而“僵化”。作者表明，美国经济并非如此有活力，欧盟经济也并非如此僵化。一些社会保护更强、劳动力市场监管更严格的发达国家在创造就业和降低失业率方面比美国更成功。第四部分讨论发达资本主义国家日益两极分化的根源，这种两极分化源于政治而非经济原因——特别是金融市场的巨大权力及其对国际机构和国家政府的影响，以及国内和国际劳工运动的软弱。第五部分对全球化的主要论点提出质疑。作者表明，我们看到的不是商业和投资的全球化，而是由政治因素推动的经济关系区域化。他还分析了资本金融的全球化，批评了资本市场决定公共政策的论点。对全球化立场背后的经济决定论提出质疑，揭示了政治解释对于理解诸如失业等重大社会问题的重要性。最后，第六部分表明，新自由主义关于劳动力市场放松管制的公共政策正在给劳动力带来巨大不稳定，使大多数人口的生活条件恶化。
