Is contemporary capitalism still neoliberal?
Neoliberal capitalism, widely held to be today’s capitalism, comes under constant criticism. Neoliberal capitalism has well-known features: Very high returns on equity are obtained by all possible means: dominant positions, skewing of income distribution against wage earners, high debt leverage, offshoring, corporate tax cuts; The weight of government, government intervention in the economy and the tax burden are reduced; Monetary policy favours savers and asset holders; the central bank does not intervene in the real economy. The situation today is ambiguous. Some features of neoliberal capitalism are present (dominant positions, income distribution and debt leverage are all present in the United States but not in the euro zone; monetary policy that favour s asset holders), but others have disappeared (declining weight of government and government intervention; high real interest rates, which favour savers; reduction in the tax burden; lack of central bank intervention). Offshoring has slowed down. Moreover, the euro zone shows no sign of dominant corporate positions, a declining wage share of total income or increased debt leverage. Capitalism is therefore no longer entirely neoliberal in the United States and is far from neoliberal in the euro zone.