David F. Ruccio — Liberal ideology

I know what liberal ideology in economics is all about. I’ve encountered it at every turn, even before I began my formal studies in economics. The same is true about liberal ideology in politics, which has shown its ugly face once again in the current electoral campaign.

In both cases, liberal ideology is the based on the idea that the existing system, while perhaps imperfect, is the only game in town. It is a conception both of what is and of how change can and should take place—gradually and without major disruption. According to liberals, the biggest threat is populism, when the masses of people challenge the existing common sense and seek radical change. It therefore works with conservative ideology, as two bookends of mainstream discourse, to limit the theoretical and policy debate to a narrow set of options.…

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Liberal ideology
David F. Ruccio | Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame