A couple Facebook friends recently linked to a Sam Bowman article about the benefits of neoliberalism that is worth consideration.
He points out that:
"Extreme poverty has fallen from 44% of world’s population in 1981 to 9.6% today. Global child mortality, illiteracy and pollution are less than half what they were in 1990.
"Over half of China’s growth since 1980 has come from openness to trade and privatization of state-run industries. Under communism, Chinese GDP per capita was $300/year. Today, it’s $10,000/year and rising. India, Vietnam and Bangladesh, too, are growing thanks in part to neoliberal-style reforms.
"In Britain, inequality is now at its lowest point since 1985. Wages for the bottom 20% have risen by 13% in real terms since the crisis. Household incomes have more than doubled in real terms since the late 1970s. Consumer technologies like smartphones and the sharing economy are advancing by leaps and bounds."
Sam Bowman is Executive Director of the Adam Smith Institute