Neither Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s recent debunking of neoliberalism in The Monthly nor various commentaries (e.g. here,  here, and here) have identified the core of the problem with neoliberalism.  The core problem is that there is no justification, in theory or in evidence, for the claim that free markets produce desirable results, let alone optimal results.  This claim arises from the neoclassical theory of free markets, and is the foundation of the neoliberal ideology.  Very few seem to be aware of this foundational weakness of the radical right. Continue reading →