The manufactured crisis of COVID-Keynesianism in Britain, Germany and the USA

James D G Wood, Valentina Ausserladscheider and Matthew Sparkes

Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 2023, vol. 16, issue 1, 19-29

Abstract: Economic policymaking shifted away from neoliberal ideals towards ‘crisis’ Keynesianism during the COVID-19 pandemic. We use a comparative process tracing approach to examine how political and economic actors in Britain, Germany and the USA attempt to legitimise a potential return to neoliberalism to voters. We show that pro-neoliberal actors discursively construct a ‘crisis’ of COVID-Keynesianism by associating it with rising inflation and ‘unsustainable’ levels of government spending. Whilst emphasising key neoliberal policies of maintaining low inflation and fiscal conservativism to establish a return to ‘normal’ neoliberal policymaking. Therefore, we explain how the neoliberal policy paradigm reasserts itself when challenged.

Keywords: neoliberalism; COVID-19; institutional change; crisis; comparative political economy; constructivism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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