World Poverty Can Be Addressed by Pursuing Neoliberal Economic Policies

 Neoliberalism is one of the most dominant theories that shape most of the international policies throughout the world. This paper will evaluate the effectiveness of such policies in regards to world poverty. There are many conflicting viewpoints in regards to wether neoliberal policies has exacerbated or decreased poverty levels around the world, which will be outlined in this paper. Neoliberals maintain that Neoliberalism has been a vital factor in decreasing world poverty in countries that have adopted it completely and those that haven’t adopted these policies are suffering as a result. Conversely, the critical opponents of neoliberalism claim that their philosophy represents only the private interest of the corporate elite, resulting in the exploitation of the poor. Throughout this paper it will be found that world poverty can be addressed by pursuing neoliberal economic policies.
Almost half of the world’s population (45%) exists on less than a $2 a day (Stiglitz, 2002, p.25). Economists agree that the best way to address and eradicate world poverty is through economic development, by ensuing growth of all sectors of society rather than a selected few. It has been proven that countries that benefited sustained growth have also been the most effective in reducing poverty within their nations.
Neoliberalism is the term associated to the market driven approach to economic and social policy based on the neoclassical theories of economics that stresses the efficiency of private enterprise, liberalized trade and relatively open markets, seeking to maximise the role of the private sector in determining the political and economic priorities of the state (Roy, Denzau, Willet, 2007, p.27).  Neoliberalism seeks to transfer control of the economy from public to the private sector, under the belief that it will produce a more efficient government and improve the economic health of the nation (Cohen, 2007). Although some believe that neoliberalism is merely an economic...