Neoliberalism is the defining political economic paradigm of our time referring to "the policies and processes whereby a relative handful of private interests are permitted to control as much as possible of social life in order to maximize their personal profit" [All quotes from this section taken from the Introduction written by Robert McChesney of Profit Over People by Noam Chomsky]. It is also not limited to any political party or wing of modern politics. Neoliberalism is used by both the left and the right in order to control the economic status quo for favored interests. "These parties and the policies they enact represent the immediate interests of extremely wealthy investors and less than one thousand large corporations."
Neoliberal initiatives are characterized as "free market policies that encourage private enterprise and consumer choice, reward personal responsibility and entrepreneurial initiative, and undermine the dead hand of the incompetent, bureaucratic and parasitic government, that can never do a good even if well intended, which it rarely is." But these initiative are generally mere words that are used to help corporations be the favored interested parties for government actions. Any activity that "might interfere with corporate domination of society is automatically suspect because it would interfere with the workings of the free market." Thus, many tax revenue, education funding, and public service funding is always on the chopping block because it is least beneficial to a neoliberal world view, and the funding is detrimental to potential corporate domination by giving back to the people.
There are many economic consequence of neoliberal politics. Just about all nations that have embraced neoliberalism has seen a "massive increase in social and economic inequality, a marked increase in severe deprivation for the poorest nations and peoples of the world, a disastrous global environment, an unstable global economy and an unprecedented bonanza for the wealthy." But of course, the justification for these results lies in a supposed effect of the market--"trickle down" economics. The idea that wealth will flow down to the lower classes as the system operates continues to be a myth generated by the corporate dominated class with little supporting evidence to prove its validity.
How does neoliberalism continue to perpetuate its dominance? It is precisely in its "oppression of nonmarket forces that we see how neoliberalism operates not only as an economic system, but as a political and cultural system as well." Neoliberalism finds its parallels here to fascism but one key difference remains. Fascism shows disdain and "contempt for formal democracy and highly mobilized social movements based upon racism and nationalism." But neoliberalism, on the other hand, "works best when there is formal electoral democracy, but when the population is diverted from the information, access, and public forums necessary for meaningful participation in decision making." But of course the idea is to limit political participation to minor issues while the government protects the corporate power through decision making that nearly guarantees their ability to generate massive profits for their stakeholders.
Now this leads to the ultimate payoff for neoliberalism, which is an important and necessary byproduct of the system--"a depoliticized citizenry marked by apathy and cynicism." When the population base is thoroughly desensitized to the affects of neoliberalism, the corporate stronghold on wealth and power is virtually guaranteed.