Hating the state – and exploiting the shock

The 2008-11 economic crisis has dramatically increased the role of the (nation) state, which re-emerged as the inescapable mainstay of liberal capitalism and the rescuer of last resort for the weak global policy system, which crumbled into ineffectuality when the chips were down. But equally rapidly a strong aversive reaction to state dependency has emerged on both sides of the Atlantic. Patrick Dunleavy continues his exploration of how the pushback to ‘hating the state’ will affect future scenarios. The political and ideological right on both sides of the Atlantic is already opportunistically exploiting the increase in state borrowing and deficits to push through ‘shock doctrine’ privatizations and long-run reductions in the role of government.