La politique économique sous Blair : néo-libéralisme ou keynésianisme réformé ?

Exposé Économie & marchés Politique économique

Date de publication :

02/10/2009

Langue :

Anglais

Format :

.doc

Nombre de pages :

9 pages

Niveau :

grand public

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Sommaire :

Sommaire

The political economy in Britain since the end of the Second World War has been shaped by a progressive shift in paradigms
The New Labour rhetoric under Blair focused on the definition of a Third Way between these paradigms
However, despite some characteristics which could define New Labour's political economy under Blair as new Keynesian, it has widely followed a neo-liberal trend both in its ideology and its practice of policy
Nevertheless, the assessment of the Blair governments' political economy should more accurately be made in terms of depoliticisation rather than considering the choice between reformed Keynesianism and neo liberalism

Résumé :

In order to answer the question of whether the political economy of New Labour under blair was best described as neo liberal or reformed Keynesianism, it is necessary to define the two ideological trajectories. Indeed, neo liberalism sees the markets as self regulating and as transforming the selfish forces of the individuals into general good. For them, the market provides the individuals with incentives, and by setting them in competition with each other, avoids any type of exploitation. And as far as the role of the government is concerned, it is believed that laws and organisms should be adapted to the ones of the market. Of course, this is an extreme vision, but in practice, it is characterised by very little state intervention and inflation targeting through monetary mechanisms.

On the other hand, reformed Keynesianism is hard to circle, as since the 1970s, different branches of new Keynesians appeared. However, they conserved the more traditional conception of aggregate demand as playing a role in the economic activity. What is more, the pursuit of full employment remains intact, although the percentage at which this rate would have to be set had already been considered by Keynes, who had estimated that a rate of 8 per cent of unemployment could actually be considered as full employment.

The arrival of New Labour in Cabinet in 1997 can therefore be interpreted at the light of these two traditions. In this essay, it some of the factors which need to be taken into consideration will be examined in order to determine the most accurate mode of assessment of the political economy of New Labour under blair.