Neoliberalism was not an accident

Neoliberalism did not just “happen”. It was planned, funded, and carefully rolled out over decades.

In this conversation with John Christensen, co-founder of the Tax Justice Network, we trace how the post-war economic settlement worked, why it delivered rising living standards and falling inequality, and how it was deliberately dismantled.

We then discuss the role of think tanks, banks, tax havens, the Washington Consensus, and offshore finance in shifting power away from democracy and towards wealth extractors. And we also ask why neoliberalism survived even after the 2008 crash, before addressing what must replace it if democracy, equality and functioning markets are to be restored.

This is not abstract economics. It is about power, politics, and the choices we were told we did not have.