Book Description

Neoliberalism, which advocates free markets without government interference, has become increasingly utilized and controversial over the last three and a half decades. This book presents case studies of Chile and Taiwan, two countries that seemingly prospered from adopting neoliberal strategies, and finds that their developmental histories challenge neoliberalism in fundamental ways. From one perspective, the political economies of Chile and Taiwan might appear to be poster children for neoliberalism. Both took aggressive policy actions (Taiwan in the 1960s and Chile in the 1970s) to create market-driven economies that were well integrated into the capitalist global economy. Subsequently, these two countries were cited as ‘economic miracles’ that opened their markets, resulting in rapid economic growth and development. A closer examination of the two nations, however, turns up very significant differences between them. In particular, Taiwan, with its much more statist approach to development, outperformed Chile by a considerable margin; and some of the experiences of Chile departed markedly from neoliberal predictions. The authors argue that Taiwan’s strategy was the more successful of the two, primarily because it discarded the ideology of neoliberalism and unfettered laissez-faire. Scholars, educators, and students studying globalization, political economy, and/or economic development will find this book an irreplaceable addition to the discussion of neoliberalism.