Living in the 21st century you'd be forgiven for thinking that economics is a solved science. We know how economies function, we have reams of economic theory from supply & demand graphs to 'rational economic actors', laffer curves, free markets and everything else which we use to explain exactly how the economy works. This explanation is indisputable, it is fact… Except it is not. What we understand as orthodox economics is simply one explanatory model which was chosen as the basis for the economy by a small group of people over 40 years ago.

This model was designed in the late 70's/early 80's by a group including Hayek and Friedman, and installed in their respective countries by Thatcher and Reagan with the backing of wealthy donors and corporations who recognised the benefits of the plan for themselves — privatisation, deregulation, crushing union power, shrinking the state, free markets. The intellectuals who designed it may have genuinely believed it would improve everyone's lives. The corporations and wealthy donors who bankrolled it into power knew it would improve theirs. These people not only got to decide the answer to how to run our economy but also effectively abolish any way to question it. Thatcher's famous "There Is No Alternative" wasn't just a catchphrase — it was the blueprint. Neoliberal economics would be the way forward, debate was over, and GDP growth would be the proof that it works.

And so the model insists that the private sector is always more efficient than the public sector, that government should have as little involvement in the economy as possible, that private debt is vastly preferable to government debt, and crucially that economic growth — measured by GDP — is the primary measure and indeed goal of a properly run economy. Growth cures all ills. Just ask any politician, read any newspaper — if we want better public services, a cleaner environment, fairer wages, we need growth to pay for it all. The only question anyone is permitted to ask is how do we get that growth? And the answer is always the same: by any means necessary.

Growth is proof that neoliberalism is working and so growth is the overriding target, the solution to everything. But by single-mindedly chasing the number, we trample the very things it was supposed to deliver. Want to give businesses room to grow? Slash workers' rights, environmental protections, health and safety rules. Make people work longer hours, in worse conditions, for lower pay. That drives up productivity and pushes the magic number ever higher - but it makes people poorer and sicker in the process, creating more problems that can only be solved by, you guessed it, more growth. The machine never stops. It can't. There is no other lever to pull.

And guess what… it hasn't worked, even by their own measure. Sure, GDP is up around 3x in real terms since 1979 — but all of that growth was built on privatisation, financialisation, debt and a credit bubble. Since the 2008 crash UK GDP has virtually flatlined, demonstrating neoliberalism to be a failure even by their own metric. Neoliberalism didn’t give us a thriving, productive economy. It gave us public services owned by private companies, corporate bailouts, stagnant wages, rising inequality and shit in our rivers. And instead of dealing with all of that we’re still obsessing over getting growth going again in order to pretend that this 40 year experiment still has legs. After all if GDP growth is proof that neoliberalism is working then presumably a lack of growth proves it is not working, and once people realise that they might start asking questions.

And what questions should they be asking? How about: What is an economy actually for? What is the point of all this economic activity? These should be the starting point of any reasonable economic discussion, but they have been completely shut down by neoliberal ideology - because the moment you ask them openly, and follow the answers wherever they lead, you might choose a different model entirely. And that's really the whole point of this first explainer. Neoliberalism is not the economy. It was a decision. We can make a different decision if we wish. We just need to know what our options are, and we need to ask questions.