Masters of the Universe: Hayek, Friedman, and the Birth of Neoliberal Politics

By far one of the most important and informative books I've read, ever in my life! I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding the struggle of ideas in the world around us... The world in which we live.

An excellent reading of Neoliberalism from 1950 to 1980, however it is also a very good history of the intellectual movement in general. It is, though, dry as dust and the author includes far too many quotes which are much bulkier/longer than necessary. Would have been better with more analytical interpretation and less from the original sources. If you've not read these they will be useful, if you have -- you will feel they may be little more than filler.Still and all, I would highly recommend this book for someone looking for an intellectual history of the movement.

A good account of the rise of neoliberalism. It explains it did not just fall out of a cloud in the 1980s but had a long gestation prior to that.

Good book regarding the struggles between two schools of economics in the twentieth century. Excellent history of the correspondence between Keynes and Hayek. The changes in thinking of Milt is enlightening. Ignoring the technical jargon which is minor does not detract from the over read.

A very useful book for those who want to understand how neo-liberal thought came to dominate political discussions and governmental policies in the 1980s.

Good intro book for student or someone not in economics. But perhaps a little to nice to these stars.

Este livro possui uma linguagem didática e de fácil leitura, mesmo tratando de um tema de dimensões globais. Leitura obrigatória para aqueles que buscam compreender um pouco mais das transformações de nossa sociedade em tempos de repulsa à globalização.

La idea de hacer una análisis histórico del neoliberalismo lejos de las simplificaciones que lo han convertido en una especie de palabra comodín, usada generalmente para descalificar, es muy interesante.La forma de llevarse a cabo tiene sus pros y contras. El libro es ilustrativo, desde luego, y suministra una muy valiosa información. Pero es muy reiterativo -podría haber sido más breve y ameno-, dedica una atención desproporcionada al tema de la vivienda -¿por qué no a la educación o la sanidad?- y termina pecando algo de partidismo: critica la atribución de propiedades taumatúrgicas al mercado, pero al mismo tiempo peca de lo mismo con respecto a la intervención del estado. Me parece que la pretendida ecuanimidad no es tal.También me llama poderosamente la atención que hablando constantemente de Friedman y acusando al neoliberalismo de descuidar a los "perdedores" del sistema, no dedique ni una línea a hablar del impuesto negativo sobre la renta que propugnaba el bueno de Milton, precisamente para compensar a dichos "perdedores". Fuera o no la solución, el asunto merecía un análisis en obra que pretende ser tan completa.

Stedman Jones presents us with a historical account of how neo-liberal ideas went from Hayek's (and others) initial formulations to accepted wisdom. This is for the most part an objective depiction of the evolution of the ideas, politics and policies of the 20th century, from Keynesianism to neoliberalism.The historical analysis and contextualizing of economic thought, the spread of ideas, and the underlying activism and linkages that brought these particular ideas from the margins of academia to mainstream politics, are fine. However this is an uneven book, with passages that become repetitive, with weak chapters (such as the case study of public housing and urban policies) and an unfortunate over-simplistic and rushed conclusion.This had the potential for being a fantastic book, and for the most part it is, yet, sadly, the bits that failed weigh a lot.

All the detail from a historical stand without political bias. Was on Thinking Allowed 16/01/2013, still available on BBC Thinking Allowed website.