“Democracy is acceptable to neo-liberals only in so far as it does not contradict the free market.”

Source: Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (2008), Ch. 8, Democracy and the free market, p. 176

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Oct. 8, 2024. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Democracy is acceptable to neo-liberals only in so far as it does not contradict the free market." by Ha-Joon Chang?
Ha-Joon Chang photo
Ha-Joon Chang 44
Economist 1963

Related quotes

Ha-Joon Chang photo

“Unlike what neo-liberals say, market and democracy clash at a fundamental level. Democracy runs on the principle of 'one man (one person), one vote'. The market runs on the principle of 'one dollar, one vote'.”

Source: Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (2008), Ch. 8, Democracy and the free market, p. 172
Context: Unlike what neo-liberals say, market and democracy clash at a fundamental level. Democracy runs on the principle of 'one man (one person), one vote'. The market runs on the principle of 'one dollar, one vote'. Naturally, the former gives equal weight to each person, regardless of the money she/he has. The latter give greater weight to richer people. Therefore, democratic decisions usually subvert the logic of market.

Deng Xiaoping photo

“A basic contradiction between socialism and the market economy does not exist.”

Deng Xiaoping (1904–1997) Chinese politician, Paramount leader of China

As quoted in Daily report: People's Republic of China, Editions 240-249 (1993), p. 30
Interview, Time, 4 November 1985.
Variant: There are no fundamental contradictions between a socialist system and a market economy.

Matt Taibbi photo

“In a society governed passively by free markets and free elections, organized greed always defeats disorganized democracy.”

Matt Taibbi (1970) author and journalist

Source: Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America

Mike Rosen photo

“Conservatives believe in free markets. Liberals believe in government controls and central planning.”

Mike Rosen (1944) American political pundit

Rocky Mountain News column, 2000

Phillip Blond photo

“The great error of the last 50 years is that conservatives think that they should unthinkingly endorse laissez -faire economics, but as presently conceived the free market destroys most of the things conservatives value; it destroys traditions, family life, societies, cultures, and established ways of doing things. The market place, as understood by contemporary neo-liberalism, is something no genuine conservative should support or endorse.”

Phillip Blond (1966) British philosopher

Source: Den 11. time, Third season, programme 96, 3 March 2008, DR2
Source: Interview with Philip Blond http://www.dr.dk/Forms/Published/PlaylistGen.aspx?qid=616842&odp=true&bitrate=low&location=Lyngby&uri=http://www.dr.dk/Forms/Published/PlaylistGen.aspx, Den 11. time, DR2, 3 March 2008, Windows Media file, 28 min. (in English with Danish subtitles)

David Packard photo

“Marketing is far too important to be left only to the marketing department!.”

David Packard (1912–1996) American electrical engineer, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, businessman, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense,…

David Packard cited in Philip Kotler (2000), Marketing Management, Millenium Edition. p. 13

Kim Dae-jung photo

“I believe democracy is the foundation of a healthy economy. Without genuine democracy you cannot have a genuine market economy. And, under the market economy, one must fully open doors to allow free trade and investment.”

Kim Dae-jung (1924–2009) South Korean politician

"Interview: President Kim Dae Jung" in TIME Asia http://www.cnn.com/ASIANOW/time/magazine/99/0913/interview.html (13 September 1999)

Freeman Dyson photo

“In the time of Jesus and for many centuries afterwards, there was a free market in human bodies. The institution of slavery was based on the legal right of slave-owners to buy and sell their property in a free market. Only in the nineteenth century did the abolitionist movement, with Quakers and other religious believers in the lead, succeed in establishing the principle that the free market does not extend to human bodies.”

Freeman Dyson (1923) theoretical physicist and mathematician

Progress In Religion (2000)
Context: In the time of Jesus and for many centuries afterwards, there was a free market in human bodies. The institution of slavery was based on the legal right of slave-owners to buy and sell their property in a free market. Only in the nineteenth century did the abolitionist movement, with Quakers and other religious believers in the lead, succeed in establishing the principle that the free market does not extend to human bodies. The human body is God's temple and not a commercial commodity. And now in the twenty-first century, for the sake of equity and human brotherhood, we must maintain the principle that the free market does not extend to human genes. Let us hope that we can reach a consensus on this question without fighting another civil war.

Related topics