The attempt to reduce the role of the state in the market through tax cuts, decreases in social spending, deregulation, and privatization—""neoliberalism""—took root in the United States under Ronald Reagan and in Britain under Margaret Thatcher. But why did neoliberal policies gain such...

This book analyses the discourses of economic liberalization reform in six Western European countries - Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria. It provides systematic empirical evidence that policy-related discourses are much more than noise; rather, they...