Neoliberalism is a term that was, I assume, created to have a benign ring about it in order to disguise its far from benign ethos. It might better be called ultra-capitalism. Interestingly those who espouse the ideology no longer attach the term to their movement; it has now gained a disreputable flavour from which its adherents try to distance themselves.
The book has almost a textbook feel to it. Words are not wasted in providing a comfortable narrative, it is very much a concise account of the history and progress of the movement and how it has influenced all our lives. Having said that it is concise, it is not particularly well written and I found myself re-reading many sentences in order to extract their meaning. The main cause of this is the use of long unweildy sentences. Someone like Monbiot should know better.
The authors describe the effects of the myth of 'trickle down economics' where the enrichment of the wealthy trickles down to the less well off. The failure of this is well exhibited by the growing inequality in incomes and wealth that have been seen over recent decades.
I was interested to read of the strategy employed by governments of all stripes that was used to effectively bring an end to NHS dentistry. This process took place under the banner of 'Investing in Dentistry'. It was well understood by those in the profession but has slipped mainly under the radar of the press, as was clearly intended.
The book provides a good analysis of Neoliberalism and is well worth a read.
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