ABSTRACT
Neoliberalism is the dominant ideology permeating the public policies of many governments
in developed and developing countries and of international agencies such as the World
Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, and many technical
agencies of the United Nations, including the World Health Organization. This ideology
postulates that the reduction of state interventions in economic and social activities and the
deregulation of labor and financial markets, as well as of commerce and investments, have
liberated the enormous potential of capitalism to create an unprecedented era of social
well-being in the world’s population. This chapter questions each of the theses that support
such ideology, presenting empirical information that challenges them. The author also
describes how the application of these neoliberal policies has been responsible for a sub-
stantial growth of social inequalities within the countries where such policies have been
applied, as well as among countries. The major beneficiaries of these policies are the
dominant classes of both the developed and the developing countries, which have
established worldwide class alliances that are primarily responsible for the promotion of
neoliberalism.
