Lionel D Lyles

Neoliberalism Economic Policy and the Collapse of the Public Sector Lionel D Lyles

My book demonstrates how classical liberalism was the foundation upon which Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and others wrote the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and the Bills of Rights; however, it was rolled back by 1980 and replaced with neoliberalism, which was championed by the Reagan Administration. In short, this ideology has one main aim, and that is to shrink government, cut the budgets of social programs, and give away billions of taxpayer dollars to private business in the form of tax breaks. During the Jindal administration and by the end of its first term, more than $7 billion worth of tax breaks had been given away to private business. A surplus of $1 billion left in the Louisiana treasury by outgoing governor Kathleen Blanco after Hurricane Katrina was given away by the end of the first two months of its first term. Today, the Louisiana legislature is currently facing a $650 million fiscal cliff, and no doubt, more budget cuts are in store for the Louisiana public sector.