neo-liberalism

   The label employed to describe an economic philosophy that has become increasingly prominent since the late 1970s which rejects state control and positive government intervention in the economy and focuses instead on free market methods, fewer restrictions on business enterprise and the importance of property rights. Associated with the conservative Right, the ideology stresses the shrinking of the state by lowering tax levels, privatising assets and encouraging and rewarding personal achievement and responsibility. Its adherents oppose environmentalism, fair trade and socialism and labour policies such as collective bargaining rights and the minimum wage. It is usually described as Thatcherism in the United Kingdom and Reaganomics in the United States.