Macroeconomic Policy and Processes of Neoliberalization During the Obama Years

Abstract

This chapter considers the fiscal and monetary policies pursued during the Obama years. It argues that notwithstanding the early hopes among the president’s backers of a radical policy shift, the effects of the fiscal and monetary policies that were pursued accelerated the neoliberalization of the US economy. Although fiscal policy was initially expansive, it quickly turned to fiscal consolidation. In contrast, monetary policy has been expansionary. It created “winners” and “losers”, thereby fuelling inequalities, weakening former solidarities and adding to the relative economic and political weight of finance capital. Thus, whereas the New Deal reforms changed the direction of US politics and restructured the governing regime, the net effects of the fiscal and monetary policies that have been pursued since 2009 bolstered a regime that had become increasingly entrenched over the preceding decades.