Résumé :
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This analysis of "neoliberalism" and its economic and social consequences is presented in six sections. Section I deals with 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. Section IIdeals with unemployment and social polarization in the developed capitalist countries. Section III challenges the widely held neoliberal perception that the U.S. economy is highly efficient and the E.U. econonomies are "sclerotic" due to their "excessive" welfare states and "rigid" labor markets. The reasons for the growing polarization in developed capitalist countries, rooted in political rather than economic causes, are discussed in Sextion IV. 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 ecoomic relations stimulated by political considerations. He also analyzes the globalisation 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. FinallySection VI deals with neoliberal public policies and labor market deregulation.
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