With his arrival, Chile’s newly elected president and long-time leader of the external opposition Gabriel Boric (Gabriel Boric) swear: “If Chile is the cradle of neoliberalism, it will also be its grave.” Although the term was affected by the lack of a clear definition, Paulick was not ashamed to clarify what he opposed during his career. Policy, so we can deduce what he meant.From reducing taxes and regulations to free trade and deregulation of capital, Borik be opposed to shopping mall.
Perhaps ironically, these are exactly the policies the country has adopted to get rich since the 1970s.For example, since 1970, Chile’s GDP has increased fiveAnd grow on average 5% Decrease every year from 1990 to 2018. Three quarters, To 9%. So, on the surface, it seems strange that a fanatical social justice activist (whose main goal is to improve poverty) would oppose policies such as making Chile rich—and even stranger that Chileans would vote for him. .
So how was Paulick elected and what is he talking about?
First of all, Paulick ostensibly refers to the influence of the economists of the University of Chicago on Chile’s economic development and public policy prescriptions in the 1970s. This university has brought together a variety of integrated ideas in terms of regulation, trade, currency and fiscal policies, and it has indeed seen some of its alumni hired by the Chilean government. Perhaps Borik also accused the Austrian school and the many speeches made by Ludwig von Mises and FA Hayek. They advocated a policy similar to the so-called “Chicago Boys” because they gave rise to the direction of the country. Influence.
To classify all these thinkers as “neoliberals” is problematic when trying to evaluate what he is trying to overthrow, and Borik will not fight alone. As a paradigm, “neoliberalism” suffers from long-term flexibility brought about by basic ambiguity. In fact, this term is probably most often used as a derogatory term by leftists, who try to use the compassion of big companies to discredit the more centrist members of their political alliances. Having said that, in the broadest sense of consensus, “neoliberalism” refers to the belief in the need to relax market controls, eliminate capital and wage controls, and lower trade barriers. Under this label, everyone from Mises to Bill Clinton is eligible, so it serves as the poverty of the analytical lens.
But even if we give Boric the signifier for a series of policies he opposes, why would anyone give up the policy that made Chile the most prosperous country in the region? As mentioned above, the evidence of their success seems overwhelming. While neighboring Argentina and Brazil are plagued by long-term inflation and economic crises, Chile is calm and prosperous. However, below the surface, everything is not as expected.
Chileans generally have two The main complaint. First of all, although economic growth is strong, economic gains tend to be concentrated at the top of income distribution and concentrated in coastal metropolises.Although the relative living standards of Chileans continued to improve during the same period, Gini CoefficientThe measure of wealth concentration has declined at the same time-in fact, it is lower than we——This proves to be a powerful call from Borik.Citizen participation and confidence It has also declined in the government because the centrist Duopoly This kind of political dominance makes voters feel more and more away from politics.
Whatever the merits of these issues (although Chilean citizens are still better than citizens of neighboring Brazil and Argentina in general), they should not be allowed to worsen. In the past ten years, large-scale protests have shaken the country many times, and now there is a strong opposition to one of the most capable states in the region. This has translated into a person who wants to raise taxes and curb profitability. The overwhelming victory of the communist collaborators in the mining industry operated and reserved half of the company’s board of directors for workers.
…At least, this is what Borik said when he launched the campaign.
Before the decisive second round of elections, Borik stood in the middle. However, whether deliberate or true, this transformation may not be as important as the narrative he has worked so hard to establish and guide so far.Even as economist According to reports, he is increasingly listening to the more moderate economists who are new to his camp. Their rational policy prescriptions may prove to be politically impossible, precisely because Mr. Boric helped to create了the environment. Chile does not face serious problems that cannot be solved by small reforms. Regardless of the dubious label, Borik did nothing, just sneered at the policy of making the country prosperous. Although the centrist elites who have co-ruled the government for 30 years are responsible for not responding to the obvious deterioration, Chileans everywhere should hold their breath and wait for what comes next.
