Originally published January 2nd 2015
There are many plausible alternatives to neoliberalism; many plausible alternatives to the prevailing economic system of corporate imperialism; classical capitalism, for instance, is one such alternative. Another option would be to Institute the same kinds of economic measures that the strong economies instituted while they were growing, which enabled them to succeed, and which they are preventing developing economies from instituting today.
State regulation of trade and tariffs to protect domestic production, progressive income tax, restrictions on Foreign Direct Investment to defend local industry against being overwhelmed by massive multinationals, so on and so forth. How to cultivate a strong economy is not a mystery; you can almost just look at the current model, and do the opposite. Fund public spending instead of cut it, hold banks accountable for negligence, instead of pay for their losses, support education and training for the population, instead of promote your people as a resource of cheap labor, legislate a livable wage, restrict the mobility of capital, implement regulations on profit-sharing in corporate law; none of these measures are secrets, and their positive impact on economic sustainability is well known.
No, it is not a particularly bewildering task to imagine alternatives to corporate totalitarianism. We just have to remember what it was like before we accepted the idea that we all exist to enhance shareholder dividends.